Things Worth Keeping
by Urdaniel
Summary: Rated M for language and mild innuendo; no sex. Week-long post-ME2 Jack/MShep story set on Intai'sei and Pinnacle Station during repairs to the Normandy. *CONTENT UPDATE - Day 6 complete; Parts 1 & 2 of 2 posted*
1. Day 1: Arrival Beginning

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2 Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

_Author's Notes: Bioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). Rated M for language and innuendo only; there is no sex - explicit or otherwise - so if that's what you're looking for, move on, nothing to see here. __ Critiques are welcome; flames will be deleted, unremarked._

_A special shout out goes to the Jackolytes on the Jack discussion thread (_Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans) _on the Bioware Social site. Don't want to miss out on mentioning anyone, so I'll just credit all of them for some of the ideas that have made (and will make) their way into this narrative. Should they read this, they'll know who they are. :) __ I'm not going to claim I've gotten Jack's character and tone down 100%, but I think I came reasonably close._

_Finally, e__ach Day's titles are my little homage to the old Traveller tabletop RPG's ship naming conventions._

[2010.05.07]

Day 1: Arrival Beginning

"Are we there yet, Shepard?"

Gabriel turned from the shuttle window to look at the slight figure sitting across from him in the passenger cabin. Jack's scarred, tattooed fingers drummed restlessly on the thighs of her jeans, and every so often she thumped the heel of one boot against the deck plating in obvious impatience. It was beginning to annoy him. But the feeling was easily quashed whenever her eyes settled, still uneasily, on his own before quickly pulling away. _Damn she's got gorgeous eyes. Besides, I knew what I was getting into with her_, he thought to himself before answering.

"Almost. It's not much, but it's what I have."

"Shit. I've been in dumps before. Not gonna bother me unless it's in the middle of a freaking jungle. So long as it's quiet and there's no one underfoot but us, I'll be happy. Ship was getting too cramped and noisy anyway." Jack's fingers ceased their motions long enough for one hand to check that the Carnifex locked to her left hip was still there.

"Yeah. Going to be that way for at least another month, Illium Standard." Gabriel briefly called up his omni-tool to check on the repair schedules and see if he had any messages. There were two he was looking for in particular, and there they were. _Ah good. Mordin and Ahern came through._ Satisfied, he dismissed the omni-tool and turned back to Jack.

"Aria and Liara have been pretty good about getting us the parts we need, but between transit time and making sure Cerberus hasn't booby-trapped any of the replacements, it's going slower than I would have liked."

"We just blew the Collectors into bits and already you want to go looking for the next fire to put out. Don't you ever take a fucking day off?"

"This from someone who isn't happy unless she's shooting at something or blowing something up."

"Hey, I like to take breaks too. Gives me time to scrounge up more ammo." Jack's grin was sly, bordering on the evil. "But you, Shepard? You're always looking for someone or something to save and then you go do it. With the galaxy as fucked up as it is, you're on call all the damn time."

"Well we're here, aren't we?" Gabriel said, shaking his head. "Or nearly there. And you know why I want the _Normandy_ up and running ASAP. It's safer if we keep moving. I didn't make any friends when I blew off the Illusive Man. Boy, was he-"

Gabriel stopped mid-sentence as a muffled snort from Jack interrupted him. Puzzled, he looked at her as the snort developed into a full-on belly laugh. It took a couple more seconds for him to realize what had triggered it.

"Real funny, Jack. You know what I meant. So I said it wrong."

"Course I do," she said, in between guffaws. "And you sure did. Figured you for a Cerberus lapdog when we first met, but the image! Fucking priceless."

"Well at least you're laughing. And with no space stations crashing into Hanar moons too. Guess I should count myself lucky, getting off light like that."

His words brought a renewed round of laughter, and a flush finally colored Gabriel's cheeks as he realized he'd walked into it again. But then a mischievous thought entered his head.

"You know what, Jack? I _am_ lucky. I'm alive and I'm here," Gabriel paused a beat, then delivered the riposte, his expression deadpan-serious. "With you."

Jack's laughter stopped dead. Her eyes narrowed, then widened, while she shook her head from side to side, consternation written on her features as plainly as the tattoos inked into her flesh.

"Asshole," she said, under her breath. Gabriel made a show of not hearing her clearly.

"What was that?"

"I said, damn straight you're lucky to be alive and here where I can watch your ass. Might get it shot off otherwise, running around like a fucking pyjak."

Gabriel smiled as Jack pointedly refused to meet his gaze.

"Oh, and by the way? We're here." He had barely gotten the words out when the shuttle settled down, with the slightest of bumps, onto the sands of Intai'sei.

* * *

"Well it's not a jungle," Jack said, as the shuttle door levered open and the planet's atmosphere rushed in. The wind was so hot and dry that Gabriel felt as if it were sucking the moisture out of his body through his armor and kinetic barriers. That there was a mild sandstorm didn't help matters at all.

"Good thing I brought my breather." Gabriel watched as Jack took the device from a belt pouch and fitted it over her face, even as her other hand went to her temple to activate her visor, the bronze-hued field springing up to cover her eyes.

"You really know how to treat a girl right, Shepard." Ignoring the boarding ramp, Jack hopped out of the shuttle with her duffel bag in one hand, her boots raising a puff of sand as she landed.

"I won it in a bet, okay? Not like I had a choice where it was built." Gabriel's answer was testy as he checked the military pack clamped to his rear weapons harness, fitted his own helmet into place, and followed, although he opted for the ramp.

"What were you playing? Skyllian-Five with a one-cred limit? Make that a half-cred limit."

"No-safety-protocols simulation of a survival scenario from the First Contact War, actually."

"No shit? No safety protocols as in 'one mistake and you're slagged for real?'" Gabriel could almost see Jack's eyes go round behind her visor.

"Yes. And if you behave, I might even take you to Pinnacle Station to try it before we head back to Illium."

"Hell yeah! I'll be good. Promise." Jack used one finger to describe a cross over her heart, a gesture Gabriel had only ever seen in a Codex entry.

"So which way?"

"Well, seeing as how it's still the only prefab around for several klicks, I'd say it's right over there."

Gabriel pointed to the rather weathered structure raised almost forlornly on support columns less than a hundred meters away. Without waiting for him, Jack set off at a vigorous pace, her boots making imprints that were quickly erased by the wind.

"C'mon Shepard! I wanna get out of this damn sun. Bad for the skin."

Shaking his head, there was nothing for Gabriel to do but follow.

* * *

"Well it's not a dump," Jack said, the inner airlock door cycling shut behind them as they stood in the apartment's entryway. Gabriel followed her as she walked down the short hallway and turned right, going through the door that led to the main living area.

"Bit too military for that, really," she went on, eying the weapon and grenade racks on the otherwise-bare walls and the medi-gel dispenser in the corner, even as she dropped her duffel on one of the bedside tables.

"Which is good," she added quickly as Gabriel let out a small sigh. "No really, I like it. And it, it- it fits you! Yeah, that's it."

"I never got the chance to renovate after I won it," Gabriel said, his voice sounding tired even to his own ears, although it was mostly frustration at feeling like he needed to defend himself and his home-away-from-_Normandy_.

"And I haven't been back in nearly three years. I'm surprised it's even still here."

"I said I liked it."

"Thank you. I think."

Gabriel moved to one of the weapon racks, unclamped his weapons from his armor, and placed them one by one into the wall recesses before removing his backpack and setting it down by the clothes closet. That done, he started to unlatch armor pieces from the sealed body glove he wore underneath the suit, all with an eye to storing them in the locker built in between two of the wall-mounted racks. He was about to open the locker hatch when Jack interrupted him.

"Yo, bossman. You think that's a good idea?"

Jack had taken off her breather and shut down her visor, once more giving Gabriel an unobstructed look at her face. She was leaning against the wall just beside the door, her arms crossed in front of her, her brow wrinkled in concern.

"What's not a good idea? I'm not leaving my armor on the floor," Gabriel said, uncomprehending, one hand frozen in the act of tabbing open the hatch.

"I'm just saying. Cerberus knows about this apartment, right? And since they're after, well, all of us, aren't you worried about booby traps or something?"

"Oh that. Mordin called in some of his favors with the STG. They sent some of their people who were on rotation at Pinnacle Station to sweep the place for bugs and traps just before we arrived. If they didn't find anything, there's nothing to find. And they didn't. When I said I hadn't been back in three years, I didn't mean no one had."

"Jack, I've taken you into some dangerous, shitty-ass places. But I always made sure everyone knew we were expecting trouble. I'd have told you if that was the case here," Gabriel said, as he finished stowing his armor in the locker and walked back toward her, stopping a little less than an arm's length from where she stood.

"Yeah, you would've. But I just, well-"

Her voice trailed off, and she looked away.

"I know. And thanks."

Gabriel moved to one side so he could look her in the eye before smiling.

"I mean, I didn't want to get my ass blown off because you did something stupid," Jack said, eyes blazing.

"Perfectly understandable," Gabriel said, still smiling as he walked toward the small kitchen space. "So what did you want for dinner?"

* * *

"Well that was pretty good as far as milrats go. Not as good as Gardner's stuff has been lately, but I ain't picky. Shame there wasn't any beer, though."

Gabriel looked over at Jack from where he stood near the garbage recycler. From the kitchen's elevated vantage point relative to the area immediately adjacent the panoramic outside windows, he could see down into the well where the coffee table, sound system, and sofa were located.

Jack was sitting on the left side of the couch and resting her left arm along its back, her right hand busy undoing her belt and the top of her jeans before lowering the fastener a centimeter or two to relieve the pressure on her stomach. Her black combat vest had been discarded just before they had tucked into dinner, and was lying in a shapeless heap on the floor just behind the sofa. Which left Jack in a black tank top whose straps ended in a collar that encircled her neck; while it showed a fair amount of tattoo-inscribed skin, it didn't show anywhere near as much as the outfit she had been wearing when she had first boarded _Normandy_.

_It looks good on her though_, Gabriel decided. _Maybe I should have told her that when she first picked it up. Oh well._

"Before you ask, yes, the food was scanned," was what he said instead, before turning back to the almost Herculean labor of clearing away the remains of their meal; between the two of them, they could put away enough food to feed six non-biotics. Gabriel didn't mind having to eat so much, though it could be inconvenient when pressed for time or even impossible under strict rationing. But he had always liked eating and had always liked women who didn't eat like birds, which made Jack - in that regard at least - a perfect fit.

"The STG brought the food here, but Ahern chose most of it," he went on. "I just told him to send enough to feed a platoon for a week. Good thing too. At this rate, it'll probably be just enough."

"And as for the beer, Pinnacle is still a military installation. If anyone had a private stash, no one was interested in sharing. And Ahern didn't leave anything in here when he handed it over to me. I looked."

"Bah. Lame. Really lame. I _knew _I shoulda brought something."

"Well then maybe you shouldn't have left packing till the absolute last minute."

Jack's only answer was a snort. Gabriel shrugged and finished shoving the last of the trays and utensils into the recycler. Securing the door, he pressed the button that initiated processing then walked back to the sleeping area, already pulling off the upper half of his body glove so he could change into something more comfortable. He was bending over to pull the rest of it off his feet when a wolf whistle interrupted him.

He turned, the body glove still tangled around his feet, to see Jack kneeling on the sofa, the thumb and index finger of her right hand in her mouth while her left hand supported her on the back of the sofa. She whistled once more before taking her fingers out of her mouth. The grin she gave him was more leer than smile, and Gabriel did a full turn - careful not to trip over his own feet - before giving her a mocking bow.

"Happy? Got a good look?" he said, feeling a flush crawl up his face for the second time that day.

"Oh yeah," Jack replied, still leering. "You always did have a nice ass. Taylor is okay, but Krios is like a fucking plank. And don't get me started on Solus, Grunt, or Vakarian-"

"I would have thought you'd seen it all before."

Gabriel finally finished removing the body glove and took a comfortable t-shirt and a pair of boxers from his pack. _Going to have to put those all in the closet later_, he told himself, even as he stuffed the body glove into the cleaning receptacle beside the armor locker.

"Well duh. Of course I have. I just haven't seen such a complete package - heh, package - all on one fella. You sure the cheerleader didn't tweak a few things when she rebuilt you?"

"I think the Illusive Man would have had something to say about that," Gabriel said, pulling on his clothes and walking back to where Jack was. "Probably along the lines of wasting money."

"No sense of humor, that guy. If you're gonna rebuild, why not improve while you're at it? And mind the vest."

Gabriel stopped short and looked down suspiciously at the pile of ballistic fiber, fasteners, and assorted bits of gear.

"Don't want to step on the grenades," Jack went on, grinning as she flopped back into a more normal position on the couch. Gabriel picked up the vest and carefully hung it off the back of the nearest chair.

"They're safed. Just didn't want you to twist your ankle or something."

"Very considerate of you."

Gabriel sat down next to Jack on the couch while still keeping a little distance between them. He leaned back himself, resting his elbows on the sofa back and looking out at what promised to be another beautiful Intai'sei sunset. The dust storms had died down, but there were still enough particles in the atmosphere to give the light a vibrant crimson hue.

"Why the fuck are you all the way over there?"

At the question, Gabriel turned to her and found himself admiring the way the deepening ruby light played across the planes of her face. While it was a great view - to his mind better than the sunset outside, though Jack would scoff if he ever said it to her face - he wished he could see her eyes more clearly. As it was, he couldn't reply for the space of a few heartbeats.

"I said I wouldn't do anything to make you uncomfortable, Jack. And I meant it."

"Shit. A bit late for that now," Jack said. "You brought me to Pragia-"

"You asked."

"Whatever. Then to Horizon. Then that damned Collector ship. Then a bunch of shithole planets. Then the fucking center of the fucking galaxy where we all nearly bought it. And now you try and feed me some bullshit line about not doing anything to make me uncomfortable? Get your ass over here."

"As you wish," Gabriel replied, unabashedly stealing a line from one of his favorite books. Not that Jack would understand the reference, or so he thought. But she looked at him, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"You might be Westley, but I ain't Buttercup. God no. What?" she said, apparently noticing the look of surprise that Gabriel was sure was on his face. "I've read some shit, maybe not a lot, but some. I might - and I mean _might_ - even have liked some of it."

"Besides," she said, the heat rising in her voice to the point where it was almost palpable, "I came up to your room just before we hit the Omega-4 Relay, didn't I? If you sitting right next to me was enough to make me uncomfortable, I would've stayed in Engineering. Are you always so fucking clueless? Or are you trying to handle me with kid gloves?"

"Maybe a little, yes," Gabriel admitted, suddenly uncomfortable in the realization that that was exactly what he had been doing.

"I got baggage, Shepard. But I ain't broken. You don't got to treat me like glass. You want broken? That's what your ass is gonna be if you don't get it over here, _right fucking now_."

"Well, coming to my quarters could have been pre-shitstorm - as Joker would put it - nerves," Gabriel temporized, trying to get his own feelings back on an even keel. "I didn't want to assume anything, because it makes an ass-"

"Don't you finish that sentence, Shepard. Or so help me I'm gonna punch you so fucking hard you'll go into orbit. And you're still all the way over there," she said, the distinct blue-black corona of a mass effect field beginning to play over her skin.

"Fine, fine," Gabriel said, finally sliding next to her and placing one arm around her shoulders. The minute he did, the field disappeared and Jack seemed to relax; Gabriel found himself relaxing in turn. The contact felt good, even right, and he made up his mind to try and treat Jack a little more normally. He just hoped he could pull it off.

"Better?"

"Better," Jack said, resting her head on his shoulder. But then her head came up and she looked around, seemingly anxious.

"Jack? Something wrong?"

"You sure there aren't any bugs?"

"Well the STG knows what it's doing, so yes I'm sure," he said. "Though I could use my omni-tool and check again."

"No, it's okay."

Jack settled back down and said nothing for a while.

"I just wanted to make sure no one else could see," she finally said, voice pitched so low Gabriel had to strain to hear. "I got a reputation to keep up, y'know?"

"Um, Jack?" Gabriel began, but paused, his breath catching in his throat as she looked up at him with her expressive brown eyes, her full lips parted just enough to reveal the white of her teeth.

"I mean," he said, tripping over the words for the briefest of instants before finding his footing. "EDI knows you came up to my quarters. And what she knows, Joker knows. And he's got a mouth on him, so it's a safe bet the whole squad knows. Maybe even the entire crew by now. And they all know we flew off to Intai'sei. They probably think we're knocking boots non-stop. Even though we haven't."

"I don't care if they think we're fucking, Shepard. Between the ink and the attitude, everyone thinks it's pretty much a given. I don't want them to think that we're doing _this_."

"What, cuddling?" Gabriel said, the words emerging before comprehension dawned in his mind.

"Oh, of course. Don't want to look soft."

"Soft means mark, Shepard," she said, looking away.

"What about me?"

"You're different."

As if emphasizing her statement, Jack nestled closer, although she still didn't look at him.

"And stop fishing. I'm not biting."

"Can't slip anything by you, can I?"

"Damn straight you can't."

Jack raised her head again, this time to look out the windows.

"That's a pretty sunset, right? I mean, I didn't get to see a lot of them. Between Teltin and stations and prisons and all."

"Yes, yes it is, actually. Very pretty."

Gabriel felt her trying to get an arm around his waist and leaned slightly forward to let her, feeling a warmth out of all proportion to the actual heat from her proximity.

"Good. Just didn't want to be wrong, y'know? Anyway, really full. Kinda sleepy-" Gabriel chuckled when Jack began to softly snore almost before she had finished talking.

He let her stay that way for a while before slowly and very, very, carefully picking her up and taking her to the bed. She stirred once and curled into a fetal position when he pulled off her boots, but otherwise stayed asleep. He tucked her in before climbing in beside her, turning on his side and laying one arm protectively, but lightly, across her torso. Then he dimmed the lights and watched her face in repose until sleep claimed him in turn.

~ End Day 1 ~


	2. Day 2: Settling Continuance

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2 Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

_Author's Notes: Bioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). Rated M for language and innuendo only; there is _still_ no sex (and there won't be). __Critiques are welcome; flames will be deleted, unremarked._

_Again, the Jackolytes at _Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans _deserve many thanks for their support This installment ran longer than I thought it would, but it felt like it needed to. Enjoy!_

[2010.05.10]

Day 2: Settling Continuance

Gabriel made sure the Storm had fully cooled down before he poked the shotgun's barrel and its coaxial scanner into the door to check for squints. Nothing. _They _could_ be using optical camo, but we're out of deployable probes and time. We don't do this now and Kyle's just going to pull us out and nuke the passageways so they'll starve. No way. That's too good for them._

"Janssen, Ramirez, with me," he said over tightbeam comm. "Janssen clears left, Ramirez right. I'll go up the middle." Gabriel waited for the acknowledgments to come through; when they did, he said:

"All right. On three. One. Two. Three!"

Almost before the last syllable had left Gabriel's lips, Janssen had rushed through the door, his Lancer sweeping to cover the left side of the room beyond. Barely a heartbeat passed before Ramirez did the same for the right. Gabriel was right behind him, the shotgun taking in the remainder of the room. Still nothing.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!" Gabriel heard himself say. Even so, he didn't relax. The squints had gotten ever more tenacious and devious over the past week as Alliance Marines assaulted and reduced their remaining strongholds; the Marine contingents had lost a lot of good men and women, and Gabriel's unit had one of the highest attrition levels of all. Gabriel considered those losses acceptable. After all, the Marines were still killing more of the squints than the squints were killing Marines, even if only barely.

The sound of footfalls caused Gabriel to whirl and aim his shotgun at the door behind them. Walking through it was a small figure swathed in voluminous robes, obscuring every detail apart from its height. _What the hell is the rest of the squad doing? Why'd they let that through?_

"El-tee, it's a squint kid," Ramirez said, as he lowered his assault rifle and walked toward the figure. "It's okay. We're not gonna hurt you."

A sense of dread crawled up Gabriel's spine even as his mind refused to believe that he was hearing what he was hearing. Ramirez _knew_ from the briefings that the squints had been using suicide bombers for the last three days; more to the point, he had been one of the few Marines in Gabriel's squad to not object to the "shoot on sight" orders they'd been given. _So what the _fuck_ is he doing now?_

Taking no risks, Gabriel triggered the Storm. In response, the shotgun's mass accelerator spat out a cloud of pellets that punched the figure right in the center of mass, making it crumple to the floor in a boneless heap. Gabriel tensed, but the feared explosion never came. Not a bomber. Then what?

"Lieutenant." This time it was Janssen who spoke. "She's not a squint. She's human. And still alive. Barely." For his part, Ramirez was silent, but his stare was eloquently accusatory.

"What?" was all Gabriel could say as he hurried over to where Ramirez and Janssen were standing over the soon-to-be corpse. The slaves the squints had taken had either been liberated or had died early on in the campaign; Alliance Command had had no intel of any others for nearly the past fortnight. It couldn't have been a human slave. But apparently it was.

"Looks like a slave to me," said Ramirez, casting another accusatory glance at his commanding officer before looking down at the body again. "She's got tats."

Gabriel's guts turned to ice, the sense of dread he had felt upon seeing the figure walk through the door returning, intensified a thousandfold. He looked down, already sure what he was going to see, though he didn't know how he knew.

The figure's hood had slid off her head as she fell, revealing Jack's well-remembered features: those eyes, those lips, the shaved head, the tattoos, the anachronistic comm interface that caged her right ear. Her normally bright eyes were unfocused, but as Gabriel loomed over her they cleared and locked with his own. Blood trickled from her nose and mouth, and more of it gushed from the latter - shockingly bright for all that the room was dim - as she struggled to raise her head and speak.

"Heh," she said, her expression more rictus than smile. "Always thought we'd end up killing each other. Too happy together. But there ain't any happy endings for people like you and me. Especially me." Then Jack's head lolled back and the light went out of her eyes.

Gabriel's legs buckled and he fell to his knees, his armor making a loud noise as it struck the bare stone floor and the shotgun dropped from his nerveless hands. He was reaching out to take hold of Jack's corpse when he noticed the fingers of her right hand relax and release their grip on a deadman's switch, turning the darkness of the room brighter than day.

* * *

Gabriel sat up in bed, his heart pumping madly, his lungs gasping for air, and his skin clammy despite the coolness of the apartment. For a moment that stretched into an agonizing eternity, he wasn't certain where he was, and he was afraid. Afraid he was back on Torfan. Afraid that the years since then were nothing but some fantasy reprieve that would end as soon as he woke. Gabriel retched, but managed to prevent himself from actually throwing up.

"Don't you fucking puke on me. Go to the bathroom and do it there. But _after_ you tell me where you stashed the booze."

Jack's voice cut through the haze, grounding Gabriel firmly in the present with a not-at-all-unwelcome snap. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw her, dressed in a t-shirt several sizes too big and sitting cross-legged on the bed. Her expression was at once disgusted and inquisitive.

Though Gabriel now knew that it had all been a nightmare, he was still relieved enough to see her alive that - without really thinking about it - he rolled toward her and caught her in a hug, a hug that was a little more spontaneous than he might have given under different circumstances. And a whole lot tighter.

"Guh! The fuck, Shepard! Let go of me!" Jack yelled, batting at Gabriel's arms hard enough to hurt. He didn't care. Absently, he noted that her skin was slightly damp and that she smelled of soap; all in all, he reflected, a pleasant set of sensations. It was then that the glow of a mass effect field reminded him to let go. He hurried to comply.

"Shit," Jack said when he released her, the field fading even as her hands tugged the shirt back into place. "I said I liked you weird. But this is too weird, even for me."

"Sorry. Didn't sleep well." Gabriel rubbed his face with his hands, trying unsuccessfully to drive away the last of the nightmare. Jack must have noticed, because her face softened; when she spoke, her voice lacked its usual bite.

"Bad dream?"

"Just a dream. That's all," Gabriel said, trying to put a brave face on it and failing miserably. His voice shook too much.

"Bullshit." Annoyance was plain in her tone. "There are dreams and then there're _dreams_. I know what's what."

"I don't like talking about it." Gabriel was still shaken enough that the words had more anger behind them than he had intended.

"Did I fucking _ask_ you to talk about it?" Jack's voice rose nearly to a shout.

"The hell, Shepard," she went on, almost visibly reining herself in, "I just wanted to fucking know if you were ok. Probably deserved that, all the crap I gave you before when you tried to talk to me. Shit. I'm just no good at this."

Jack slapped her knees and stood up, shaking her head and throwing her hands into the air.

"Whatever. I'm grabbing food. Stay there for all I fucking care."

Before she could walk off, Gabriel reached out and - gently - grabbed her right hand. She didn't pull away, but neither did she look at him or return to her previous position.

"Jack, I'm sorry. It's just that-" Gabriel took a deep breath and swallowed his pride. "It hasn't been this bad in a long time. But you've got your own stuff to work through. You don't need me to pile my history on top of it."

After the initial outburst, Jack's face had been stony, devoid of all emotion while Gabriel spoke. But when she heard his last half-stammered statement, her face twisted in anger and her eyes lit up. Pulling her hand out of his, she slapped him. Not too hard, but solidly enough that Gabriel _knew_ it was a slap. Stunned, he looked up at her.

"Goddamn you, Shepard. Goddamn you and your bullshit macho routine. You think I don't know that you've been through shit too? Maybe not the details, but enough to guess. But you still _listened_ to me. Really listened. Not like some asshole prison shrink, in one ear out the other. Even when I was doing it to push you away." She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"So I wanna help. Even if all I can do is listen. 'Cause I _owe_ you, and I pay back what I owe. Whether you want me to or not. You don't gotta worry about piling more shit on me neither."

"You want proof? Here," she went on, turning her hands palms up so he could see the tattoos incised into her palms and the insides of her wrists. "Any scars you see, the doctors at Teltin put there. Them or all the skags who tried to kill me. I'm not a cutter. You would've never found me on Purgatory if I was that weak. Not alive."

"And you? You don't gotta prove nothing to me," she said, voice now sounding weary. "Not after Pragia and all the other shit we've been through."

Jack paused and finally looked him in the eye, and Gabriel saw the quiet acceptance in her stare.

"Just be you. 'Cause that's what got me here."

He told her then, and she listened. About the tunnels that were at once too small and yet seemed to go on forever. The tunnels where the light of inhabited areas mixed with the darkness of the passageways that linked them, all lit by the brief actinic flares of weapons fire and collapsing kinetic barriers. The tunnels that echoed with the screams of the dying and the reverberating silence of the dead. The tunnels that had always been filled with the stink of explosives and burning flesh, so strong and pervasive that it lingered in his nostrils even through the filters of his suit. The tunnels where he had earned the epithet that had followed him ever since: The Butcher of Torfan.

He told her why he had more than earned that name: about his bloodthirstiness, his callousness, his desire for vengeance that had burned so strong he had sacrificed men and women - often needlessly, carelessly - to feed its ravenous appetite. Unlike the batarians, their only crime had been that they had followed him - willingly or no - into what became their collective hell. But like the batarians, they had paid with their blood, their limbs, their sanity, and all too often, their lives.

He told her about the nightmares that had followed the conclusion of the campaign. Told her about how he'd thrown away the medal they'd pinned to his chest. Told her how he'd tried to save every life he possibly could ever since. Then he told her how hard it had been to leave Ashley to die on Virmire, how hard it had been to send the Fifth Fleet into the teeth of Sovereign's fury. And most of all, how hard it had been over the years to not just shoot everything in his way, consequences be damned, and let the higher powers sort it all out.

But he didn't tell her everything. He didn't tell her how her specter had walked, unbidden, into his nightmares. He couldn't. Not yet, maybe not ever. She didn't need to think that she had any fault, any responsibility, for the return of his past. Because she didn't. Because deep down, Gabriel knew that it was his guilt over the past and his fears about the future that were to blame. In that way he and Jack were very much alike, just as they shared one fear that overrode all the others: the fear that one of them would walk away, leaving the other alone. Again. Gabriel couldn't speak for Jack, but he'd be damned if he drove her away when both of them had tried so hard just to get where they were.

When he finished, the sun - barely peeking over the horizon when he had awoken - was high in the sky. Jack had said nothing through it all, though her eyes, as always, spoke volumes. Her only other communication had been to take his hand in both of hers, the gesture awkward, unaccustomed, but sincere.

They stayed like that, in silence, for a while more. Gabriel didn't know how long, but it was long enough for the ghosts of Torfan to, if not vanish, then at least to recede again. Eventually Jack tugged on his hand, urging him up. Gabriel got out of bed and found her pulling him towards her, their faces ending up so close he could feel her warm breath caressing his skin. He expected - no, wanted - her to kiss him, then kiss her himself. However, she confounded him by placing her nose near his mouth and- sniffing?

"Wha-"

"Yuck, morning breath. But no booze, dammit. I was sure you had some squirreled away somewhere." She pulled away, her voice regaining its old studied nonchalance. "Go brush your fucking teeth, Shepard," she said, pushing him toward the bathroom. "Then let's get breakfast. I'm fucking starving."

* * *

Gabriel did his best to return to normal over breakfast. He needed to, but more than that, he _wanted _to, so he ended up talking more than he usually did. Jack, who had never been particularly talkative at mealtimes - preferring to concentrate on her eating and being antisocial besides, at least in the beginning - just smiled a small, knowing smile and turned back to her food.

They were about halfway through their meal when Gabriel thought to ask the question that had earlier popped into his mind, though it had been lost in all the seriousness that had attended his waking up.

"Is that one of my shirts?"

"Mmhm," she replied, around a mouthful of- something or other, maybe omelet. While filling, the military rations left a lot to be desired in terms of presentation. Jack chewed a couple more times, swallowed, then took a drink.

"My stuff's in the wash. After yesterday, I had sand in places I don't even want to _think_ about. Fine for you in your crab suit, but me?" She shrugged and went to work on another tray.

"Then what the hell is in your bag?" Gabriel reached for tray of chipped beef and tore off the wrapper before setting it on his placemat. While he thought he could already guess, he figured he'd let her surprise him.

"Oh, you know. Girly stuff."

"Like?"

"Eviscerator, Locust, one of those geth rifles - if you listen hard you can hear it beeping and booping. Bunch of spare heat sinks, more grenades. Some other crap I don't remember right now." Jack paused and took several more bites before resuming.

"Shit. What the fuck were you expecting? Nipple rouge? I'm not the cheerleader. I'm practical." Jack snorted and polished off her tray.

"Nipple rouge?" Gabriel's eyebrows lifted at hearing that.

"Oh yeah," Jack replied, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Caught the bitch putting it on when I walked into the bathroom one morning. Wonder who for?" she went on, casting a sly look in his direction.

"Oh no," he said, raising his hands as if warding off the implied accusation. "Don't give me that look. You know I'm not interested in her. Came on just a little too needy."

"You sure? I mean, look at her. Legs up to here, tits and ass out to there-" At that, Jack dropped her fork and stuck her hands about half a meter out in front of her own chest and rear. The depiction was so exaggerated - though not by much - that Gabriel laughed and nearly choked on his food.

"That's more like it," she said, sitting back with a satisfied look on her face. "You were trying too hard to be all normal and shit. Hate when you get like that. Relax. I'm just yanking your chain about the cheerleader. But if I ever think-"

"I'm not that stupid. Clueless maybe, not stupid."

"Good. Hey, you gonna eat that?" She pointed to Gabriel's half-eaten tray.

"Mine. Get your own." Gabriel curved his left arm possessively around the tray and forked a pile of beef and gravy into his mouth.

"Fine, be that way. Prick."

Jack's grin took out any sting the insult might have had as she walked over to the pantry to look for another tray. The remainder of the meal passed in a companionable near-silence, broken only by the sounds of chewing and the click of disposable cutlery.

* * *

"Here, you can have this back." Jack pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it at Gabriel before walking over to the cleaning unit. To his relief, she hadn't put the vest with all its "accessories" in there with the rest of the wash.

"Keep it. Got enough in the closet. I'll put it on the bed."

"So you don't want me walking around buck naked? Your loss. And I can feel you looking, Shepard." Jack stood up from where she was bending over the cleaner, looked at him, and grinned. Gabriel met her gaze and didn't flinch.

"Hey, you got a good look yesterday. My turn."

"Didn't say you couldn't look. Just to stop pretending you aren't." She pulled her clothes out of the cleaner and threw them onto the bed. "I walked onto the ship with my tits hanging out, remember?"

"I do, and so does the rest of the crew. Especially Ken."

"Daniels just needs to fuck him and get it over with."

"It'll happen sooner or later."

"It better. He's even more clueless than you."

Jack pulled on the tank top and locked the collar around her neck. Then she picked up her jeans and lay down on the bed to put them on. Despite the narrowness of Jack's hips, the pants were tight enough to require such measures. Still barefoot, she stood up and padded over to the chair where Gabriel had slung her vest the day before. Shrugging it on and settling it into place, she turned to him, an expectant look on her face.

"I'm dressed, now what?"

"Well, I'm grabbing a quick shower-"

"Cold?" Another grin.

"No. Hot."

"Can I watch?"

"Like I could stop you."

"Nope. Never happen."

"Anyway-"

"What?"

"I was thinking we could get kitted out and then go visit Pinnacle Station. Shuttle should be here in twenty or so."

"Sweet!" Jack said, her face lighting up. "That thing you were talking about?"

"Maybe. Depends on whether Ahern says yes."

"Bah. Hurry up and shower. We're burning daylight. Where the fuck did you put my boots?"

Jack cast around until she spotted them by the bed. She walked over, picked one boot up, then dropped it and turned to her duffel bag, rummaging through the contents while muttering to herself.

"Lessee, want the shotgun for sure, Locust too 'stead of the pistol, rifle too much for the first date? Ah fuck it. Bring it all. Now where are the damn heat sinks?"

Gabriel could only chuckle as he walked into the bathroom.

* * *

"Sure you can walk okay in all that?" Gabriel said, as they secured the door of the apartment behind them and walked to the waiting shuttle.

"Shut up, asshole. You've seen me hump more than this." The breather once more muffled Jack's voice as she answered. As a concession to the blowing sand, she had thrown a loose robe over her clothing, making her look almost as she had in Gabriel's dream. Gabriel forcibly pushed the image out of his thoughts and concentrated on following her.

Being stronger than she looked, Jack was hardly staggering under the load she carried. But under the robe she still had an Eviscerator slung across the small of her back, a geth pulse rifle over one shoulder, and a Locust clipped to her left hip in place of her customary Carnifex. Between the weapons, not to mention the heat sinks and grenades attached to every square centimeter of her vest and belt, she looked little different from the way she had in the hours before they had assaulted the Collector base at the center of the Milky Way. She was, in a phrase, overdressed for the occasion.

"Can't say as I have," he replied, keeping his voice light.

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

"Maybe."

"Laugh it up."

"I am. Slow up." Gabriel pulled up his omni-tool and sent the challenge code yet again. "Checks out. Let's go."

At their approach, the shuttle hatch levered open, a light kinetic barrier over the opening keeping the sand from entering the interior of the vehicle. As they passed through it, it forcibly swept the particles from their clothing, making Jack's robe flutter as she climbed in. For his part, Gabriel didn't feel a thing through his armor, although he remembered the sensation on bare skin being akin to a full-body itch.

"Welcome aboard Commander, ma'am," the shuttle pilot - Chief Shreya Reddy, according to the message Ahern had sent - said over the internal comm system.

"Glad to be aboard, Chief. Didn't keep you waiting, did we?"

"Nope, right on time, sir. The Admiral sends his greetings."

"He's not meeting us himself?"

"Maybe, maybe not, sir. He's been busy the last week. He might have time when we get there, but you never can tell. Now if you can get buckled up, we can get going."

"Right."

The shuttle ride took the better part of an hour. Jack fidgeted the whole way while Gabriel took the chance to grab forty winks; he came awake just as the shuttle nosed into one of Pinnacle Station's docking bays. Thanking the Chief, they disembarked and walked down the corridors to the main entrance.

"They're throwing more money at this place," Gabriel said as he looked around. Jack had pulled off her robe and slung it over the shoulder opposite her assault rifle.

"Yeah? You can tell by looking at a hallway?"

"More lights, better carpet. It's _cleaner_. Air quality's up, too."

"Better than Purgatory," Jack agreed, sniffing the air herself. "Not saying much though."

Gabriel got another surprise when they arrived at the airlock hatch that served as the primary entryway to the rest of the station.

"Sergeant Dahga?" Gabriel moved forward and extended his hand in greeting to the armored figure standing by the guard post.

"_Guard Captain_ Dahga to you," the turian replied, mandibles clicking in good-natured amusement as he shook Gabriel's hand, his other claw tapping the rank insignia on the shoulder of his armor. "Welcome back to Pinnacle Station, Commander. Glad to see you're not dead."

"So am I. Congratulations on the promotion. What happened to Vidinos?"

"Asked for a transfer. Hear he's on Taetrus now, heading up one of the guard details at the Signis."

"Huh. With his attitude?""

"I don't know," Dahga said, mandibles once again moving in the turian equivalent of a chuckle, "I hear he fit right in. Hold on, Commander."

Dahga raised one claw to his ear and listened to his comm, subvocalizing a response before turning back to Gabriel.

"You're lucky, Commander. The Admiral has a few minutes to meet with you and-"

"Jack," Jack said.

"Miss Jack," Dahga continued, seemingly oblivious to the suppressed growl she uttered when he called her 'Miss.' "Let them through, Sergeant."

Admiral Ahern met them just on the other side of the door. He looked little different from when Gabriel had been at Pinnacle Station last, apart from a slightly more widespread sprinkling of gray through his hair and beard. The Admiral was certainly as fit as he had been nearly three years ago; Gabriel could actually feel the strength of Ahern's handclasp even through his armored glove.

"Shepard."

"Admiral. Good to see you again."

"Dammit, I told you three years ago you could call me Ahern. Anyway, you look pretty damn good for dead." Ahern looked Gabriel up and down appraisingly.

"I got better." The answer drew a low, rumbling laugh.

"Obviously. Nice gear too. I didn't even know the new-pattern N7 armor had been released into the field yet."

"I don't think it has, if you catch my drift."

"Right. The dogsbodies," Ahern said, using his pet derogatory term for Cerberus. "Say no more. But I'm forgetting my manners. Who's your friend?"

"Jack," Jack said, eyes still hidden by her visor, one corner of her mouth turned down in what Gabriel knew was mounting annoyance. All things considered, she was behaving remarkably well.

"Ahern, this is Jack. One of my squad-"

"Jesus, Shepard. You are _such_ a pussy. I'm his girlfriend."

"Jack!"

"What, you embarrassed or something?"

"No, but I thought you didn't want-"

Ahern stepped in before things got out of hand. To his credit, the Admiral didn't bat an eyelash as he took Jack's hand and gave it a hearty handshake no less forceful than the one he had given Gabriel just minutes earlier.

"Good to meet you, Jack. If you're with Shepard, then you must be something. Fancy a turn at the simulator? A spot just opened up and you look like you came prepared."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Jack said, apparently taken aback. "What you got?"

"Let's go to the prep room. Javos can explain everything. This way."

Ahern led the way into the simulation prep room, giving Gabriel an amused glance over his shoulder. The room itself was emptier than the last time Gabriel had been there. Two salarians were talking with a turian and an asari commando at one of the tables; they looked up briefly as the trio entered but soon went back to their discussion. When they reached the operator's chair, Ahern waved Jack over.

"Jack, this is Tech Specialist Javos," he said, indicating the salarian operating the console that controlled the simulation chamber. "Javos, tell Jack about the simulation parameters and set one up for her and the Commander."

While the pair got to it - not without a lot of violent gesticulating from Jack as well as repeated protests from Specialist Javos - Ahern walked back over to Gabriel. Standing between Gabriel and the operator's chair, Ahern favored him with a sly grin.

"Interesting little firecracker. Are you two, well, you know-" Ahern waggled his eyebrows for emphasis. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"She can hear-"

"Yes, we're fucking. Six times at least. Every. Fucking. Day," Jack called, still devoting most of her attention to Javos' increasingly harried explanations.

Her voice was loud enough that Gabriel looked around to see if the other people in the room had heard. They had. The salarians were shaking their heads, the turian's mandibles were clacking in amusement, and the asari looked…interested.

"I know you're looking at the squid, Shepard. Quit it."

"-You, you know," Gabriel finished.

"Son of a gun. I knew you biotics had stamina, but damn. You're a lucky bastard, Shepard. Last time I saw ink that pretty, it was on this one asari I ran into on Omega-"

"Admiral, please."

"Never would've figured you for a prude." Ahern gave him a disapproving look.

Gabriel gave up and just kept silent. He was grateful when Jack walked back toward them, but when he saw the expression on her face, he felt his stomach drop into his boots.

"All set?" Ahern said, his tone annoyingly smug - to Gabriel anyway.

"The fucker won't turn off the safety protocols. And he says he knows nothing about no 'special scenario.' You better not be fucking with me, Shepard," Jack said with a glare that Gabriel could see even with her visor up.

"Sorry, Jack." Ahern looked genuinely apologetic. "But we have a big training batch of N7 candidates, STG, and commandos rotating through over the next three-four days. We can't afford for the simulator to be down. And it was down for half a week after Shepard won our little bet."

"Lame. Fucking lame."

"Tell you what. You're in-system for close to another week, right?"

Gabriel nodded.

"We have some scheduled downtime to do some systems upgrades beginning four days from now. Pinnacle won't be accepting trainees for close on another standard month when we get started. It's why they're rushing these last few batches through. Come back then and I'll set you up."

"No shit?" There was no way anyone could miss the excitement in Jack's voice. "You're on."

"Good. That's settled then. Now, since you've come all this way, I'd hate for you to leave without at least trying something. Let me set it up and you can have a go. The entrance is right over there." Ahern pointed to the entry door, nodded at the two of them, and walked over to Javos.

"Well, what the fuck are we waiting for? Let's go," Jack said, fairly pulling Gabriel along in her wake. "This should be fun."

* * *

"You're off your game." Jack shook her head in disgust as they re-entered the apartment after returning from Pinnacle Station. It had taken them half an hour to do security checks and make sure the telltales they had left to inform them of any intrusion were still in place.

"We beat the best time by two whole minutes. With only two people. And I set that old time with a krogan battlemaster and Garrus."

"That Wrex guy."

"Yes, 'that Wrex guy.' I don't know why you still say I was off my game," Gabriel said as he re-racked his weapons and began stripping off his armor.

"We beat your time, but you had _me_ along," Jack replied, playfully shoving him aside to put her own weapons up on the wall, the first time she had done so since they had come to Intai'sei, though she kept the Locust at her hip. "Besides, I can tell when you're distracted."

"Okay, so maybe I was a _little_ distracted."

Gabriel stripped off the body glove and put it in the cleaner again, then got a fresh set of clothes and a towel. Jack pulled off her vest and boots, dropping them at the foot of the bed and following him as he walked towards the bathroom. She leaned on the door frame as he hung up his clothes and towel and started the water running.

"Oh I get it. You're still steamed at me."

"For what?"

"For embarrassing you up there."

"I don't mind you saying that we're together-"

"Shit, I know that. It was me who told you not to say 'girlfriend.' Changed my mind about that. Keeps things short and easy to remember, y'know? I meant about the 'fucking' bit."

"Yep. That part."

"You're such a prude."

"That's what Ahern said too. Jack, after that outburst, all the human staff looked at us with 'whoa' expressions on their faces. The salarians looked at us like we were perverts-"

"They do that with everyone who has sex for fun, you know."

"Whatever. The turians were laughing, and I thought the asari were going to proposition us."

"Might have been interesting."

"Jack-"

"I know, I know. We agreed. 'Not before you're ready,'" Jack said, mimicking Gabriel's delivery. "Doesn't mean we can't joke about it. Especially the way people react. It's fun. Besides, I couldn't give a fuck about what other people think and neither should you."

She paused then, her expression mischievous.

"Or are you having a case of blue balls?"

"Jack!"

"You're no fun today. Go take your shower. I'll stay right here and make sure no one sneaks up on you. Then you can do the same for me." She grinned, and Gabriel shot her an inquiring look.

"Hey, fair's fair. Now get in there. I'll kick your ass if the shower runs out of hot water before I finish."

* * *

"Hey, we watching the sunset again?" Jack asked, once again wearing one of Gabriel's shirts, after they had finished with dinner and the after-dinner cleanup.

"Sure. Haven't seen too many of them myself over the past three years."

"Sweet. But not from there," Jack said, as Gabriel began descending the steps into the viewing well. "From there," she went on, pointing to the bed. "We can see it from there, right?"

"Yeah, we can." Gabriel's voice was guarded; he kept his tone carefully neutral.

"Don't worry. No funny stuff. Just don't want to make you carry me to bed again like last night. I'm not a spoiled brat like the cheerleader."

"Be nice."

"Whatever. She's earned her keep. Doesn't mean I have to like her. Now c'mon. We're missing it."

Jack beckoned him over and hopped into the bed, pulling the covers up past her waist. Then she drew her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. A few seconds later, Gabriel climbed onto his side of the bed and got under the covers himself, resting his back against the wall.

"Arm," Jack said, not taking her eyes from the sunset.

"Fine, fine," Gabriel replied, putting his left arm around her shoulders.

The minutes and hours rolled past as the sun fell below the horizon and the stars came out; it was the first time in Gabriel's memory that the Intai'sei night sky had been clear enough to see the stars.

"The stars are twinkling." Jack's voice was full of wonder.

"They do when you're in atmosphere."

"Pretty?"

"Very pretty, yes."

When they both fell asleep an hour or two later, Gabriel was grateful that he had no dreams. Unpleasant ones anyway.

~ End Day 2 ~


	3. Day 3: Interstitial Quiescence

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2 Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

_Author's Notes: Bioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). Rated M for language and the usual innuendo - nope, no sex here__. __Critiques are welcome; flames will be deleted, unremarked._

_Continued thanks to the Jackolytes at _Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans _on the official forums on the Bioware Social Site for their support. Almost to the half-way point. Thanks to everyone for sticking around. And thanks to everyone who took the time to give reviews. It's been said often enough before, but reviews are the fuel for the writer's fire.  
_

[2010.05.12]

Day 3: Interstitial Quiescence

The beeping of the message terminal on the apartment's sole desk woke Gabriel from slumber. Jack lay partially across his chest, her head pressed into the crook between his neck and shoulder and her earpiece comm digging into his skin, even as her arm gripped his midriff in a not-unpleasant hold. Her left leg was draped over his own, their bare skin touching where her shirt and his boxers left off. Jack was warm, and surprisingly soft; Gabriel had just about decided to stay in bed and enjoy the intimacy of their contact when the sound of the terminal impinged sufficiently on Jack's consciousness to wake her. She leapt out of bed, seemingly completely awake and aware, and marched over to the desk, muttering as she went.

"This better be fucking important. Or I'm gonna kill whoever's calling."

Still on the bed, Gabriel sighed. The best he could hope for was that she wouldn't break the terminal. Not that he didn't share her annoyance; he was just less likely to kill the messenger.

"Make sure you-" he said, but Jack interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah. All the firewalls and shit are up and green. It's safe." Gabriel heard the soft tones as her fingers manipulated the controls.

"Huh," she said after a short while, her voice sounding intrigued.

"What is it?" Gabriel finally sat up in bed, resigned to the fact that the day was going to start whether he wanted it to or not.

"It's from Solus. Message only."

"Mordin? What's he say?"

"He says 'Commander, attached find educational materials for your and Jack's pe-, per-, perusal,' " she said, stumbling a little over the last word. " 'Enjoy.' "

Gabriel groaned and fell back on the bed, covering his face with his hands. He could have _sworn_ that Mordin had just been joking about it back then. Apparently not.

"Jack, Mordin's just trying to be helpful," he said through his hands. "He doesn't know we aren't having sex yet. Don't kill him."

It was then, to his horror, that he noticed that she hadn't said anything since opening the message. Instead, Jack was making little sounds of interest, maybe even approval. He sat bolt upright, feeling a strange mix of curiosity and dread.

"You say something?" she said, eyes still fixed on the holographic display. "Oh. Kill Solus? What for? This is good stuff. Hey, vids! Lessee. Oh wow, I didn't know you could do _that_-"

"This is giving me some ideas. For, y'know, when we actually do it."

Jack turned to him, eyes bright and with the hint of a flush creeping up her neck; given her tattoos, Gabriel couldn't be completely sure, however.

"Might need to get you a cushion and a wheelchair when we're done, but you heal fast, right? After the cheerleader rebuilt you?"

Gabriel's only reply was to flop back on the mattress, turn over, and pull the pillow over his head. Some days it just didn't pay to get up in the morning.

* * *

The morning had been mostly quiet and mundane since the incident that had started it, but Gabriel didn't mind. There had been entirely too few quiet days since Cerberus had brought him back from the dead. Thankfully Jack - who was normally a bundle of nervous energy even in her calmer moments - didn't seem to mind either. The pair of them were sitting on the couch after breakfast, Jack nestled into his side, his right arm around her shoulders. It was almost homey. Until she spoke up.

"Don't be such a baby, Shepard." Jack's tone was at once mildly disapproving and affectionate.

"Huh? What did I do now?" He looked down at her and she looked back, mischief in her eyes.

"Wasn't saying we were gonna try any of that stuff the first time. Second time maybe. Not the first."

"Stuff? What- right, _that_ stuff." Gabriel sighed. "It's a little out of my comfort zone."

"Didya even _look_ at it?"

"First time Mordin offered. For- for knowledge's sake, that's all."

"Hah! Wait. You're not a virgin, are you?" Jack straightened up and grinned at him, apparently relishing the moment.

"No. Just…boring, I guess."

"Boring can be fixed," she said, settling back down.

"If it ain't broke-"

"No fun."

"I'd rather not break it."

"Do you trust me?"

Jack didn't look at him and Gabriel felt her tense, ever so slightly. He didn't respond immediately, but neither did he tarry.

"Yes, Jack. I do," he said, gently using his left hand to lift her chin and make sure she could see his eyes when he said it. She seemed to relax then, and Gabriel removed his hand.

"Fine. If you think it'll be fun, I'll play. But only-"

"When you're ready," they finished in unison. Gabriel chuckled.

"Am I really that predictable?"

"Yeah. S'okay though."

They both said nothing more for a while afterward, and Gabriel just sat there, looking out the window. Another one of Intai'sei's incessant dust storms had sprung up, and the dunes outside were only intermittently visible through the swirling, wind-borne sand. _At least the wind farmers are getting something out of this, _he thought to himself. _Sand's probably hell on the equipment though._

"What about this? Is this pretty?" Jack's voice broke into his musings.

"The desert?"

"Yeah."

"Couldn't tell you, sorry. Grew up on a farm world and went into space soon after. Seen a few deserts since, but never stayed long enough to do more than complain about the sand getting into everything."

"I hear that," Jack said, laughing. "I shower every time we get back and I still got sand in the weirdest places."

"Might want to ask Thane."

"About getting sand out?"

"No," Gabriel said, now laughing himself. "About whether deserts are pretty. The drell came from a desert planet."

"That they fucked up."

"Regardless, he's mentioned once or twice that he'd like to see a desert before he dies." The thought sobered Gabriel rather quickly. Apparently it had done the same thing for Jack, because her voice was subdued.

"That's fucked up too. The dying bit. Getting blown away's one thing. Waiting for it- Fucked up," she repeated, shaking her head.

"Well the hanar are working on it. And I asked Mordin and Dr. Chakwas to look into it too. On the sly, though. Thane's pretty much resigned to dying. Might be none of my business, but I'm not just going to do nothing and let it happen."

"Why? His choice, right?"

"I owe him."

"Yeah? Since when?"

"Since he helped us on the mission. Since Tuchanka, when he tagged that krogan who was about to take your head off."

"Oh. That."

"Yeah, that."

"I knew it was charging. Just hadn't gotten around to doing anything about it yet. I was gonna."

"Well he did it anyway. So I owe him."

"Your choice."

"Yep. I'm just funny like that."

"Suit yourself. Hey, ain't it time for lunch?" Jack said, getting up and heading for the kitchen.

"Better haul ass Shepard," she called over her shoulder as she walked off. "If you don't want me taking all the good stuff, anyway."

* * *

Lunch came and went. Gabriel fully expected Jack to be fidgety as the afternoon rolled around, there being nothing in particular to do. They weren't due back at Pinnacle Station for another three days, there was no point in going out due to the storm - not that there would have been much point even if there hadn't been one - and neither of them was especially interested in surfing the extranet. Gabriel was certain that this sort of thing was precisely why Ahern hadn't seemed sad to lose his retirement home in a bet. Someone like the Admiral would have died a thousand deaths before sitting in a place like this, day after day, with nothing to do.

_Well, it wouldn't be anywhere near as bad if you had someone with you_, Gabriel thought to himself as he watched Jack. _Although even then, you might get on each others' nerves if it went on too long_.

However, Jack seemed quite at ease with the slow pace of the day. Though she still wore one of Gabriel's shirts, she had put her visor back on and was apparently using it to view the material Mordin had sent over, if the chuckling and occasional giggle - giggle? - were any indication. Though he had promised her, Gabriel still found himself somewhat apprehensive; he had looked through the material himself, after all. He eventually pushed his apprehension aside. They weren't at that stage yet and likely wouldn't be for a while.

"Done?" he said, as Jack shut off her visor, slid closer to him, and hooked an arm through his elbow.

"Yeah. For now, anyway. Solus sent over a _lot_ of stuff."

"How much is a lot?"

"This much," Jack said, grabbing his hand and bringing his omni-tool interface in line with her own ear-mounted one. The transfer took three seconds longer than Gabriel was expecting. He looked at the list of files in disbelief.

"Damn. He's added stuff since the first time he offered. He's been busy."

"That's a salarian for ya."

"I'm in for it, aren't I?"

"Maybe." Jack's tone was playful. "Remember, you promised."

"Don't I know it."

"I'll be gentle," Jack said, once more drawing a cross over her heart. "By the way-" Her voice was carefully nonchalant, but Gabriel noted the undercurrent of seriousness in it.

"Hm?" Gabriel purposely kept his tone neutral.

"You said Krios wanted to see a desert."

"Yep."

"So why not invite him here?"

"I thought about it, sure. But he wanted to go visit his son after the mission was over. Besides-"

"Yeah?"

"This was supposed to be our getaway."

Jack's mouth briefly quirked upward before she managed to suppress it. Gabriel noticed, though he carried on like he hadn't.

"I mean, I could've brought you to the Anderson Suite at the Citadel. Or one of those skyscraper penthouses on Illium. Hell, we could have gone somewhere on Omega. Probably not Tuchanka though-"

"Good call."

"It's not like we couldn't have afforded it. Would've been safer too. All those places, even Tuchanka, we'd have had people watching our backs. But I brought you here."

Gabriel paused, took a shallow breath, and continued.

"I told you I grew up a farmboy."

"Yeah, you did," Jack said, seemingly unfazed by the apparent shift in topic, though her expression was attentive.

"Probably heard the news about Mindoir using my face on their planetary seal. I was born and raised there, that's why. Batarian slavers hit the planet when I was sixteen. Killed a lot of people. Including my family - my whole clan really."

Gabriel kept his voice level, trying to keep some distance between himself and the memories, almost as if he were reading from a history book, as if it hadn't happened to him. It worked- mostly. Even so, he didn't trust himself to look Jack in the eye. Instead, he focused on the scar that split her upper lip, a mark he'd always felt had added to her character instead of detracting from her looks.

"Alliance rescue team found me before the slavers did. I joined up two years later, been bouncing from posting to posting ever since. Haven't been back to Mindoir at all."

"So," Gabriel said, a small gesture encompassing the space enclosed by the apartment's walls, "This is the closest I've got to home. In some ways more so even than the _Normandy_."

"Would've brought you to meet my folks, show you off," he went on, still not looking her in the eye. "But I can't even bring you to my relatives. This, this is the best I can do."

"You-" Jack broke in then, her voice faintly disbelieving, faltering enough that she had to start over. "You wanted to show me off? You brought me _home_? Me?"

"Sorry if that sounds weird."

He forced himself to look at her and saw that her face couldn't seem to decide whether to laugh or cry. In the end, she grimaced and punched him on the arm. Hard.

"You idiot," she said, voice rough, though it quickly smoothed out. "Never listen do you, Shepard? Said I _liked_ you weird. Apologize way too much too. I swear. Don't know why I put up with your shit sometimes."

Jack put her feet up on the sofa and brought her knees up to her chest, tugging the hem of the shirt down to cover her legs.

"Now get over here. I'm cold. Think there's a draft somewhere."

* * *

The hours rolled by. Gabriel and Jack ended up back on the couch after dinner, both of them watching the sunset. Or trying to, anyway. The dust storms had actually picked up in ferocity as the afternoon wore on, and now they could only see the sun as a slightly brighter patch of haze in the growing gloom.

"I don't like Krios." Jack held up one hand in front of her face, silhouetting it against the fading light.

"What brought this on?"

"Just thinking. Don't hate him or anything. Sneaks around too much, but he's a good shot. Scary good up close. I could take him though. Just- creeps me out whenever I talk to him."

"Why?"

"The whole religious thing," she said, lowering her hand. "After the cult and all, can't get behind shit like that anymore."

"Right."

"Then there's that thing he does-"

"Perfect recall."

"Yeah, that thing. Creepy. Don't think I could take it, having that."

"Me neither. But he's a pretty decent guy if you talk to him. Easier to talk to than Grunt."

"Or me."

"Or you. Think I've gotten the knack of that though." Gabriel smiled at her, although he couldn't be sure she could even see him in the darkness.

"Dream on."

Jack paused, staying silent long enough that Gabriel felt compelled to speak up.

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"Shepard-" Again the undercurrent of seriousness ran through her voice.

"Yeah?"

"Did you, y'know, bring anyone else here?"

"No."

Gabriel could have left it at that, with a reasonable expectation that it would be sufficient, but Jack had been lied to enough, had been told half-truths all too often. For his part, he had already kept the full details of his dream from her; he wouldn't keep any more secrets.

"But I was thinking about it."

Gabriel felt her stiffen. When she spoke, her voice was casual, but there was a noticeable brittleness to her tone.

"Who? The cheerleader?"

"No. Before your time. All of you. Except Garrus and Tali."

"Suit girl then. Or the squid on Illium."

"Tali's like a little sister to me. And Liara, well, it always felt like I'd be taking advantage of her fascination. So no."

Gabriel decided to head off any more guesses, so he plowed ahead.

"I was thinking of bringing Ashley here."

"Ashley? The one you left behind?"

"Yes."

"How could you _do_ that?"

Jack pulled away from him and sat on the coffee table. Even in the darkness, Gabriel could feel the weight of her stare. He kept his head up and refused to look away.

"I had to. It was either save Ash or let the geth disarm the nuke. A lot more people would have died otherwise. We both agreed. Neither of us liked it. But we agreed."

"Did you l- have feelings for her too?"

"We never got a chance to find out. Early on, the job got in the way. Then Virmire turned it into a 'what if.' "

"That's a copout."

"Maybe. But it's the truth."

"What about me? Would you do the same? Leave me behind if the mission needed it?"

"I don't know. It's never come up."

"I wasn't fucking asking if it ever came up. _Would you do it_?"

"Do you want me to lie and say yes? Or no?" Gabriel said, his voice rising, though somehow he kept it from reaching a shout.

"Because that's what it would be. A lie. Because _I don't know_."

"Jack," he went on, voice almost pleading, "I used to think things were so clear. On Mindoir after my family died. On Torfan when we burned the batarians out of their caves. Kill every pirate and slaver, no matter what it cost."

"After Torfan, it was a different kind of clarity. Save everyone - no exceptions, no excuses. But that was just as flawed. Virmire and the Citadel taught me that."

"So I don't know anymore. And it's only gotten worse since- since us. I'm sorry it's not the answer you're looking for. But it's the only one I have. And if that's not good enough-"

Gabriel's voice failed him then and he clasped his hands in front of him, even as he lowered his head to look at the floor. He didn't know what else to say.

For a long time there was silence, broken only by a rising howl as the storm outside gained strength, the wind causing the apartment to sway fractionally on its supports. But Jack's voice broke through the noise of the storm and Gabriel's own preoccupation.

"C'mon Shepard, let's get to bed. Won't be seeing any stars tonight in this mess."

"Yeah, guess not."

He followed her up the steps, letting her get into bed before he did so himself. Once they were under the covers, however, she surprised him by planting a kiss on one corner of his mouth, a kiss so light he couldn't even say for certain whether it had really happened. Then she turned away and molded her back to his front, taking his arm and laying it over her stomach before placing her own arm over it to keep it in place.

"G'night," she said, her voice a whisper that nevertheless made it to Gabriel's ears over the sound of the storm.

"Good night, Jack," he whispered into her ear. Her breathing slowed and deepened soon after, and it wasn't long before he followed her into slumber.

~ End Day 3 ~


	4. Day 4: Median Coercion

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2 Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

_Author's Notes: Bioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). Rated M for language and the odd bit of innuendo - no sexytime__. __Critiques and comments are welcome; flames will be deleted, unremarked._

_Continued thanks to the Jackolytes at _Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans _on the official forums on the Bioware Social Site for their support, as well as to everyone who's read all this stuff and everyone who's taken the time to give their comments and/or critiques._

_This portion took longer to release due to RL distractions and plain old writer's block (with regards to presenting it in written form; the ideas were already there). Maybe you folks can tell why it was so difficult to write, maybe not. Either way, here it is._

[2010.05.16]

Day 4: Median Coercion

Gabriel woke to find himself alone; throwing off the covers and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he looked around to see where Jack had gone. He found her standing by the panoramic windows and gazing out at the now-quiet desert, her form silhouetted against the harsh mid-morning glare of Intai'sei's primary. She was wearing her borrowed shirt and had her arms crossed in front of her at chest level, her fingers tapping restlessly on her upper arms. Otherwise motionless, she was so restrained she was almost a statue, and Gabriel wondered if it had anything to do with their discussion of the previous night. He hoped it didn't, because he had no other answer to give than the one he had already given.

Jack had apparently heard him moving around on the bed, because she turned her head to look at him; Gabriel couldn't read her expression, shadowed as she was by the light streaming through the glass. She stood there for the space of several heartbeats before uncrossing her arms and marching up to the bed, sitting on the edge closest to him and finally giving him a good look at her face.

Though her expression was as tightly controlled as the rest of her body language, Gabriel could see the tension constricting the area around her eyes and mouth, as well as the firmness with which her jaw was set, the smallest of muscle movements the only telltales - almost unnoticeable to someone who didn't know Jack as well as he did. It gave her features a determined, yet fearful cast, something he had only seen twice before: as the shuttle had raced away from the impending explosion on Pragia, and when she had walked through the door to his quarters on the _Normandy_, in the hours before the transit of the Omega-4 Relay. So it was that he was completely unprepared for what she said when she finally broke her silence.

"You wanna grab a shower?"

It was one of the few times in his two lives that Gabriel was at an initial loss for words. Though he kept his eyebrows from arching and his mouth from opening like a gaffed fish struggling for air, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to otherwise respond. A heartbeat passed, then another, then another. As they passed, Gabriel could see Jack's stoic facade start to ever-so-slowly crumble, incrementally revealing the fear that underlay it. With no better options presenting themselves, he opted for the (hopefully) safe, "Shepard is fucking clueless," answer.

"Didn't think I'd started stinking up the place yet." Gabriel made a show of sniffing his own shirt.

"Fucking clueless," Jack said, her face finally expressing open emotion: a mix of annoyance, disgust, and relief; one hand came up and slapped the mattress hard enough to make it shake. When she resumed speaking, she enunciated each word carefully, as if speaking to a especially dense child. Or an idiot.

"Did. You. Wanna. Shower. With. Me?" The effect was somewhat spoiled by the tentatively interrogatory lilt she placed on the last word.

"Are you sure-" Gabriel began.

"Just a shower," she said, maybe a little too hurriedly. "No funny stuff. Gonna hold you to it, too."

"Long as you're sure."

"Yeah."

"You want to go in first, or should I?"

"Me first. But gimme a minute to- to, y'know-"

"Take all the time you need. Holler when you're ready."

Jack nodded once - a short, sharp movement - before fairly bolting off the bed and into the bathroom, leaving the door open after going in. Gabriel heard the water start and swung his legs off the bed, resting his arms on his thighs and clasping his hands in front of him.

He wasn't certain that this was the best of ideas; that said, it seemed to be important to her, so he would go along with it. But only so long as things remained comfortable for them both. He scrubbed both hands through his hair, an anxious feeling settling like a stone in his gut. Thankfully, he wasn't given much time to dwell on it.

"Get in here." Jack's voice, quivering slightly, drifted through the open door. Gabriel stood and walked into the bathroom.

The first thing he noticed was that Jack had tossed her shirt under the sink. The second thing was more of an absence: though the shower was running full tilt, there wasn't any steam in the air.

_Cold shower. Probably a good idea overall_, Gabriel thought to himself. Even so, he felt himself shriveling at the thought of the frigid water hitting him.

Jack was in the shower and facing the wall, her face and body turned away from the door. She was standing outside the main portion of the spray, but even so the stream was vigorous enough that droplets of water beaded on her skin, running down in rivulets that subtly broke up the outlines of her scars and tattoos, including the large omega symbol that took up much of her back. She was shivering.

As she heard him enter the bathroom, she started, turning her head to look at him, a mass effect field flaring briefly into life and flicking water in all directions before dying down.

"Hurry the fuck up. Freezing in here." Gabriel thought he could hear Jack's teeth chatter as she spoke. He quickly removed his clothes and hung them on an empty rack then got into the shower, careful not to crowd her too much.

"Sure you're okay with this?" He wanted to give her every chance he could to back out.

"Y-yeah. W-wash my back, willya?" she said, turning her face away again and placing herself into the full force of the spray.

Gabriel nodded - even though she couldn't see him - and grabbed the soap, lathering his hands. Slowly, he placed them on her shoulder blades.

At his touch Jack shuddered, a spasm running through the muscles of her back. Her mass effect field sprang up again, brighter than before, rippling around her body like a thing alive and making Gabriel take an involuntary step backward.

"G-get out," Jack said, grating out the words from between clenched teeth. Gabriel didn't need to be told twice; he got out of the shower and left the bathroom.

Once outside, he grabbed a towel and dried himself off. Then he sat on the bed and waited, his thoughts awhirl.

_Bad idea, after what happened on Purgatory. Should have refused. Never should have put her and yourself in the middle of a goddamn minefield. Dammit!_

The brittle crack of breaking glass tore Gabriel out of his brooding and sent him running for the bathroom. He came to a halt outside the open doorway and saw the last thing he wanted to see.

Jack was sitting on her heels and staring at the floor, her hands bloody, shoulders heaving in rigidly-contained sobs. The blood came from what seemed to be a myriad of cuts that covered her hands from where she had repeatedly punched the mirror, shattering it and raining shards of glass into the sink and onto the floor. She didn't look up as Gabriel entered.

Taking the towel that was still in his hand, he knelt and draped it around her; it was almost big enough to cover her completely. As she felt the cloth settle on her skin, Jack flinched and her head came up, her eyes fixing Gabriel with a frightened stare before his identity registered. She relaxed then and slumped against him. Gabriel said nothing, simply holding her close as her sobs died down, until they were only an occasional hitch in her breathing. Only then did he try talking to her.

"Can you stand?" He would just as soon have simply picked her up like he had on their first night on Intai'sei, but he wasn't sure whether that was necessarily indicated - or wise - in this situation, at least from the standpoint of Jack's emotional state.

She nodded and started to get up. Though Gabriel could see that she wasn't entirely steady on her feet, he refrained from doing anything more than making sure he was in a position to catch her should she fall.

"Watch the glass. I'll get it later." He was thankful that the majority of the fragments had fallen into the sink, with only a few outside the basin. There were none in the areas either of them had to cross.

Another nod. Jack took a tentative step, her walk slowly growing more confident as they moved out of the bathroom. Gabriel watched her closely but otherwise left her alone.

He saw her safely to a sitting position on the bed before getting the medical kit he had brought with him. Kneeling in front of her, he parted the towel and gently took her hands in his so that he could examine her injuries. Jack didn't protest.

To his relief, the wounds looked worse than they actually were. Though they bled profusely, the cuts were otherwise shallow, although he did have to pick a few small pieces of glass out of the deepest ones. With a practiced hand he cleaned and dressed them, then put the medical kit away. After that, he sat on the bed beside her and waited for her to make the next move. It came with Jack saying a word Gabriel had hardly - if ever - heard her speak:

"Sorry."

Her voice was tired, more tired than Gabriel could ever remember hearing.

"For what?"

"Everything."

"That narrows it down."

"Not joking." Jack's head came up with an almost audible snap, her eyes narrowing.

"I wasn't either," Gabriel said, keeping his voice level and his expression neutral. "First off, I don't care about the mirror. It's replaceable. Besides, I don't think that's what you meant anyway."

Jack shook her head, the anger leaving her eyes. In its absence, she seemed to slump, collapsing in on herself.

"Then what? I'm not accepting any apologies till I know it's something that needs forgiving."

"Weak. 'Cause I'm weak," Jack finally answered, in a voice so low Gabriel could barely hear, for all that he was sitting right next to her.

"You?"

She nodded.

"That's bullshit. I know it and you know it. You said as much yourself the other day."

"Not like that."

"Then how?"

"When I'm with you."

Gabriel did a double-take.

"What?" was all he could say.

"'Cause I care what you think. 'Cause I care where I fit. 'Cause I care about later, not just living through the next fight. 'Cause you're a hook people can use against me. All that makes me weak.

"Scares me, makes me angry. Had enough being scared at Teltin. Had enough being angry afterward. I am anyway." She took a deep breath.

"Can't fight a 'what if' either, Shepard. Can't kill a ghost. Yours or mine."

"Wait. You mean this is about Ashley? About last night?"

"Yes. No. It's- everything. Your dead girlfriend, my baggage, everything. Can't fight 'em, can't beat 'em. I tried. You see what happened. Fucked up my hands."

Jack's voice was half-laugh, half-sob as she held her hands in front of Gabriel's face. Then she clenched them into fists, so hard that the transparent dressings over her cuts turned a faint pink as the fleshseals partially gave way. When he responded, Gabriel started out slowly, his voice gentle and level. He made no attempt to move closer or touch her, trying to reach her solely with his voice.

"I can't read your mind, so you'll have to explain. I'm fucking clueless, remember?"

Gabriel hoped Jack would at least acknowledge his self-deprecating statement, but was disappointed. She didn't even look at him.

"Yeah. You _are_ fucking clueless. Okay, probably not going to make any sense. Gonna try anyway." Another deep breath.

"The shower thing. Thought that if I didn't freak out in there, we could, y'know-"

"Have sex."

"Yeah. But the closer we got, more scared I got. Then I got angry about being scared. So I toldya to get out so I wouldn't hurt you. Don't deserve that when I was the one pushing. And here we are."

Jack finished and slumped back down again. Gabriel felt that he could at least touch the edges of what was bothering her so much, but couldn't be sure and didn't dare assume.

"But why push yourself? I'm willing to wait. Not just sex. Everything."

"Know that. Think I didn't notice you giving me space? Letting me pick when I wanted to be all cuddly and shit? I _wanted_ to push."

"But why?"

"Cuddling is great. Only goes so far though. But every time I think we can get it on, I get the shakes. Can't go through with it. No problem knocking boots with strangers, but you? Scares the piss out of me. Wanted to leave that behind.

"And that ain't even the half of it. Wanted us to do it 'cause, 'cause, y'know-" At this point, Jack faltered, looking embarrassed.

"What?"

"To say thanks, okay?" she finally said. Gabriel's mingled surprise and lack of comprehension must have showed on his face.

"Nuts, huh? But you got everything else. Got a kickass ship, got the best gear creds can buy or that we can steal, got the respect of a lot of people. Only thing you're not getting is any. And that's 'cause I'm all messed."

"'Thank you' would've worked for me," Gabriel said, feeling that he needed to say something. "And you wouldn't have hurt yourself punching mirrors either."

"Don't tell that lie, Shepard. Seen the way you look at me sometimes. 'Specially when I don't wear your shirt." Jack's mouth turned up in a smile, albeit a small one that didn't last very long.

"Well, goes for me too. Why'd you think I watched you shower all the time? Or made you watch me? Closest we could get that didn't make me feel all freaky."

"Guess I was wondering about that myself."

"Never said no though, didya?"

"No, no I didn't."

"But yeah, wanted to thank you only way I could think of. Well, besides killing stuff, but can't do that all the time. Then there's all the other shit."

"Like what?"

"Shepard, all the crap you been through, you still end up saving the goddamn galaxy- twice. Your people get killed, you don't quit. You do _better_ next time.

"Me? All I do is blow things up. Helped save the galaxy, sure. But only 'cause you got me here. Sprang me from Purgatory, took me to Pragia, then pushed, dragged, and sweet-talked me the rest of the way. Still be in cryo or back to my old shit otherwise. Maybe even dead.

"And damn you, you didn't _want_ nothing. Didn't ask for nothing you weren't already doing yourself. It's why they follow you. Why _I_ follow you.

"Don't you get it?" she said, and her eyes brimmed over with unshed tears. "I'm tough, but it ain't enough anymore. I wanna get better, _be_ better. And it's taking too fucking long."

Jack's fists clenched again and Gabriel laid one hand on top of hers and squeezed lightly, urging her to relax. At first, her hands just clenched tighter, but eventually she let them fall open, turning them upward so that his hand rested on her cupped palms.

"Jack, it'll take as long as it takes. Wait, hear me out," he said, when he saw her opening her mouth to disagree.

"You're probably sick of shrinks saying it. I know I was. But they were right about that, at least. Tried to rush things early on, and damn near got a psych discharge for my trouble. Wouldn't be here today if that happened. Probably at some desk job or back at a farming colony somewhere on the Verge.

"In the end," he went on, "Took me more than five years to get where I am now. Even though it doesn't happen often, I still get nightmares - bad ones. Saw one the other day yourself.

"Give it time," he finished, giving her hands another gentle squeeze.

"What if we ain't _got_ time, Shepard?" As she spoke, her expression flickered and cycled between anger, despondency, and a whole gamut of emotions in between.

"Can't look that far ahead, none of us can."

Gabriel tried to keep his voice reassuring, but he knew that the same anxieties Jack had expressed lurked in the back of his own. It came with being a soldier, with living almost constantly on the cusp of life and death, with facing enemies that threatened the end of everything. But those fears had to be suppressed, preferably cast aside. It wasn't any way to live.

"Just have to enjoy the ride," he went on, hoping that he sounded confident. "Me, I'm hoping it'll be a good, long one."

"Guess so. We enjoying ourselves so far?" For her part, Jack didn't sound convinced. If anything, her voice held a note of challenge.

"Hey, I'm not so stupid I think it's always going to be smooth. Had our rough spots before this and we're going to have some more after. But we've had our moments too."

"Like the look on Illusive-schmuck's face when you told him you were slagging the base."

"Or the time you gave the Council the finger. Thought Udina was going to have a stroke." Gabriel paused briefly before speaking again.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

Gabriel turned his body on the bed so he could more fully look at her. With the lightest touch of his fingertip, he moved her chin so that they were looking each other directly in the eyes.

"You _are_ better. Maybe not fixed, but better. Less than a year ago, you wrecked Purgatory and damn near took my head off when I tried to rescue you. Now? Been a pretty nice, mostly quiet, three-four days. Sure there have been a few bumps, but I'm to blame for that too.

"I'm not saying we don't still have a long road ahead, but at least we've started walking it. And yes, I'm enjoying it."

As the words left Gabriel's mouth, Jack's upper lip quivered and her hands came up, one grabbing his shoulder and the other curving around the back of his neck. Then she pulled him toward her with enough force that he was momentarily afraid they were going to headbutt each other. But she arrested the motion just in time; instead of crashing together, their foreheads met lightly and stopped.

"You're such a goddamn chump," she whispered. "Don't know how you can be like that and still do all the things you did."

"I had help," he replied, his voice just as soft. "I've always had help. Never would have made it alone. It's why I'm going to be here. And why I want you with me. No matter how tough it gets."

"Careful what you wish for." Jack's voice grew slightly louder, with a hint of the dismissive tone she had used with him for quite some time after they had first met. But only a hint.

"Always. But I only wish for things I really want."

"Chump."

"Yep. But the universe needs chumps too. It's on page thirty-four of the rulebook."

"Just being an idiot now," she said, pulling away from him, albeit gently.

"Page forty-two." Gabriel finally let a grin cross his face. "C'mon, let's go find you another shirt, then I'll go clean up the bathroom and we can have an early lunch."

* * *

The rest of the day was quiet. While the silence between them was, if anything, even more companionable than those they had experienced in previous days, there were certainly longer stretches where neither of them said anything. But Gabriel figured he had done enough talking for one day, and Jack apparently felt the same way.

They spent most of their time on the bed, Gabriel sitting between Jack's legs, his back to her and her head resting on his shoulder with her arms encircling his midsection. Given that she was somewhat shorter than him, Gabriel didn't imagine that it was particularly comfortable. But it was what she wanted, and he had always tried to give her what she wanted, so long as it didn't involve loss of life and extensive property damage - too much of either, anyway.

It was getting on close to dusk when he felt a faint vibration through his shoulder blades.

"Did you say something?" he said, turning slowly so he could look at her out of the corner of his eye without smacking her on the nose. Jack raised her head.

"Yeah."

"What was it?"

"Did you two do it?" Gabriel wasn't at all surprised at the question; had been expecting it to come up sooner rather than later, really.

"No. Never got that far. Didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we did on that. We both had some very definite ideas about timing, as it turns out. Not identical, but it all ended up the same."

"Huh," was all Jack said. The inflection she placed on the word spoke volumes, however.

"Ashley didn't want to do it until she was good and ready. I wasn't about to pressure her. Respected her too much for that. Respected the hell out of her right hook too, come to think of it."

"Heh. Should see mine."

"I have. Repeatedly. First time I saw you, you punched three YMIRs into the next century, remember?"

"Was that cool or what?" Gabriel could feel her smile even though he couldn't see her face clearly.

"More like scary. Impressive either way though. How come you haven't done anything like that since?"

Jack's answer was lost in a mumble as she buried her face in his back again.

"Didn't catch that."

"I said, thought I'd leave something for the rest of you to do."

"Oh thanks. Really."

"What, you big hero types need to feel important, right? Don't think any of the other squaddies like feeling like fifth wheels either. I can be nice too, y'know."

"Uh-huh," Gabriel said, making sure enough sarcasm came through in his tone so as to be unmistakable.

They fell silent after that. But something had been nagging at the back of Gabriel's mind ever since the events of the morning and the revelations they had elicited from Jack. Careful to keep his tone neutral and relatively light, he spoke up, breaking the quiet even as Phoenix began its slow descent below the horizon.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you pushing yourself this morning because Ashley and I didn't have sex?"

"Not as dumb as you look," she said, uncoiling herself and moving around him on hands and knees to his front, looking him in the eye the whole time.

"Yeah, I was. Sorta like marking my turf. Nuts, huh?"

"But why?"

"Told you already."

"I mean, why feel the need to stake your claim?"

"Why not?"

"Jack, I'm here. With you. Not with Miranda, not with Tali, not with anyone else. I'd think that counts."

"Told you that already too. Can't fight a ghost. Like Grunt always says, ain't nothing to help pick a weak spot and tear. Shepard-"

She paused, almost as if waiting for him to make some response. So Gabriel raised his eyebrows as an indication she should continue.

"Might count for you. But not for me. Sure it registers up here," she said, tapping her right temple with a forefinger.

"But not here," she went on, using the same finger to make a stabbing motion at her heart. "When we're talking about shit like this, this is where it counts."

Jack sat back on her heels, her fingers grabbing the fabric of her shirt where it covered her knees. She looked down, at her hands.

"I wake up, still can't believe I'm not dead or still in prison. Then I look at you and it gets worse."

"Me, a con, record longer than both your arms. Done a lot of shit. Some crazy, some just plain bad. Got so much ink and so many scars, my skin's more like a map than anything else. Got no manners, a mouth like a wasted krogan, and a bod someone once said looked like a peanut with tits. Jerk's slagged by the way. Wasn't clean either."

"You?" At this, her head came back up and she looked him in the eye. "Poster boy for the Alliance and the Council. Rough start, but mostly straight and narrow ever since. Body good as new- Hell, even better and mighty fine looking in the bargain. Can pull out the charm when you need to, bust heads otherwise."

She looked down at her hands again, her voice faintly tinged with the despondency Gabriel had seen on her face earlier that day.

"Shepard, mooks like us just don't end up together. 'Less it's in a standoff getting ready to take each others heads off. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," Gabriel said, clasping his hands in front of his chest, forearms resting on his knees. "Yeah I do, when you put it that way. But-"

"But what?"

"We did anyway. Jack, you forgot to mention one thing. You forgot to mention 'normal.' "

"What?"

"People like us don't end up together- _normally_. But nothing about the last three years of my life has been normal. Wasn't really normal before that either. I mean, I've been brought back from the dead, for fuck's sake. That's not normal."

"Long story short, if normal meant I'd never met you and we wouldn't be spending this time together, then, well-" Gabriel's voice trailed off and he turned his hands palms upward.

"Fuck it," he finished, with a slight smile. "Wouldn't want it."

"You're nuts, Shepard," Jack said, eyes going wide and her lips parting in disbelief.

"Yeah. Prereq for the job, or so I'm told. Page one, I think."

"But you don't deserve the shit I could put you through. I don't deserve someone- someone, like you."

"Bullshit. 'Deserve' has nothing to do with anything. Shit happens and that's that. And we've already had this talk on the _Normandy_. Still, I'll say it as many times as it takes you to believe it. Maybe even after."

Gabriel got up on his own knees then and laid his hands over hers, urging her fingers to unclench before twining their hands together.

"Jack, I'll still be here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere. Unless I have to go to the toilet really bad, anyway."

"Asshole." But the slight smile on her lips belied the word and the tone she used in speaking it.

"That would be a Number Two. Usually a Number One though. Wouldn't apply then."

"Ain't as funny as you think you are."

"Tough crowd, tough crowd," Gabriel said, before raising one hand and pointing out the window.

"We can watch the rest of the sunset if you want. Looks like it's going to be clear tonight, too. Should be able to get some star-watching done."

Jack rose to her knees, her hands leaving his then coming up and shoving his shoulders hard enough that Gabriel fell flat on his back, his head just narrowly missing the headboard. Then she crawled on top of him and enclosed him in a full-body embrace, putting the left side of her head on his chest so her earpiece wasn't in the way. They lay that way for a while before Jack said anything.

"Not tonight. Tired. See 'em tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Whatever you want, Jack. Whatever you want."

They both said nothing more after that, and Gabriel held and was held by her in that fashion until they both fell asleep some time later.

~ End Day 4 ~


	5. Day 5: Oasis Intermezzo Part 1 of 2

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2 Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

_Author's Notes: And after long silence, a REAL update. But before I explain any further, here's the usual boilerplate stuff:_

_Bioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). Rated M for language and occasional nudge-nudge-wink-wink moments - despite the delay, there is still no sex__. __Critiques and comments are welcome; flames will be deleted, unremarked._

_Now that that's out of the way, I would like to thank everyone who has patiently waited these past months for me to get out of my blue funk (due to RL issues I won't bore anyone with) and get back to the story. All your comments and praise are very much appreciated and are a large part of what keeps me going despite everything else that gets in the way. And as always, special mention goes to the denizens of _Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans _on the official forums on the Bioware Social Site for being a constant source of inspiration and constructive criticism. Like Shepard, I don't think I'd have gotten this far just on my own steam._

_As I mentioned before in my June update, Day 5 got longer and longer the more I got into it. It eventually reached a point where I decided that - seeing as how everyone still interested in this story has been waiting long enough - the chapter was of sufficient length to split into two parts and be released in two parts. I then decided to release part 1 so that folks have something to read while I finish part 2. I feel that both parts have enough meat on their bones to stand on their own; for example, Part 1 ends at what is (for me) a logical break point from which I can launch Part 2. It's not really a cliffhanger and there's enough going on before the break point so that it's not simply an extended prologue._

_Forgive me for rambling on a bit, but I just wanted to note that Day 5 was originally the day that threatened to give me the most trouble. It occupied a strange purgatory in my outline for the story: I knew where I wanted to start and I knew how I wanted to end, but the middle was rather hazy. I was actually afraid I would have nothing to present for Day 5. But when I started writing it, things began to fall into place, and it became outside obstacles that prevented it from getting done. It went so well that it will eventually end up being twice as long as any previous single installment. I just find it funny in a strange sort of way._

_But enough muttering. To paraphrase Ambassador Udina, "Here it is."  
_

[2010.05.25]

Day 5: Oasis Intermezzo ~ Part 1 (of 2)

It was early when Gabriel woke up. Phoenix was still low on the horizon and most of the light entering the apartment came not from the windows, but from the light-pipes on the side facing the sunrise. From the not-uncomfortable weight on his chest, he knew that Jack was still in bed with him. Slowly, he inclined his head upwards so as not to wake her, in the process finding he needn't have bothered. She was already awake, her chin resting on her hands, which in turn were resting on his torso. And she was looking at him. For some reason it reminded him of an old roommate's cat; it had always woken one or the other of them just like that.

"Hey," Gabriel said, voice still thick with sleep.

"Hey."

"Been there long?"

"Little while, yeah."

"So, um, what are you doing?"

"Watching you."

"Why?"

"Need a reason?" she said, cocking her head a little to one side. "But fun watching you sleep."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"Don't suppose you're going to tell me exactly what's fun about me sleeping?"

"Nope," she said, smiling a secretive little smile.

It was then that Gabriel noticed, for the first time, that Jack had a light sprinkling of freckles across the planes of her cheekbones. Though their faces had been close before, and their surroundings had - on more than one occasion - been brightly lit, never had the two sets of circumstances occurred simultaneously. At least until now. He found it simultaneously enthralling and fetching; it must have shown in his expression because Jack raised her head from her hands and looked at him with a suspicious expression on her face.

"What?" she said, the suspicion on her face mirrored in her voice.

"You have freckles."

"Yeah. So what?"

"I like them."

"Oh." Apparently mollified, she dropped her head back onto her hands. "Thought I might have to pop you one."

"Sensitive?"

Jack said nothing by way of reply, instead pushing her chin down into her hands to increase the pressure on his chest. It wasn't lost on Gabriel, who just smiled a secretive little smile of his own, which just made Jack push down all the harder.

"Okay, okay, I get the message," he said, chuckling. "Really do like them though. Look good on you."

"Bet your ass they do," Jack said, taking her weight off her hands and settling back down into a position comfortable for them both. "Don't you forget it either."

"As if," he replied, just as something else caught his eye. "Hmmm."

"Now what?" This time she just sounded pissed.

It might have had something to do with the fact that Gabriel was still only half-awake. Or it might have been that, because of their only relatively recent closeness, he was just now noticing things about Jack he'd never noticed before. Either way, he was finding it all rather fascinating. Even though the second leading cause of feline deaths was fascination - the first being curiosity - Gabriel couldn't help himself. And so, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, he walked into the waiting jaws of death - or at least serious bodily injury.

Lifting one hand from where it lay on the bed, he gently ran his palm and fingers over the curve of her scalp, through the soft fuzz that had only recently begun growing there.

"The fuck you doing, Shepard?" Jack raised her head from Gabriel's chest to look at him. Her eyes and voice were at the same time angry and confused, but they seemed a little intrigued as well - though that could have been his imagination playing tricks on him when he was on the verge of messy death.

"Soft," was all he said, grinning and adding fuel to the fire in the process.

"Ain't no damn dog." Her tone had switched to one of indignation.

"Just never seen you let your hair grow out, even a little. It's really soft."

"Yeah?" This time her voice was almost thoughtful, a trait most people would never associate with her - the ones who didn't know her very well anyway.

"Yep. But I'll stop. Sorry for pissing you off," he said, removing his hand from her head. As he did so, the corners of her mouth turned down slightly.

"Said I wasn't a damn dog. Didn't say you should stop."

"So you're not pissed?"

"Shut up. Gonna go back to sleep," she said, laying her head down and nestling herself more closely against him. When, after a few seconds, his hand hadn't returned, she spoke up again. Though she didn't raise her head to look at him, her tone held no ambiguity.

"Hand."

"Fine, fine," Gabriel said, grinning broadly and resuming his gentle stroking of her scalp. The soft, almost downy feel of her hair made for an interesting contrast with the tiny, almost unnoticeable shocks generated by their respective biotic fields interacting at very low levels.

"Can tell you're grinning. Quit it. Not here so you can get your shits and giggles."

Gabriel kept grinning anyway, although he sobered when the pads of his fingers found the knots and scars Jack had accumulated over the course of her life. At that point, he realized that he didn't know how old she was: her age when she had been brought to Teltin, how long she had stayed, how long it had been before she had ended up in Purgatory, how long she had slept in cryo. Even now, after the two of them had gotten to know each other better, Jack still kept a lot of things close to her chest. All Gabriel knew of her past was what she had told him on the rare occasions she chose to open up.

He couldn't imagine a life like that. For all the twists and turns his own life had taken, it had never been anything as convoluted as hers had been. It was what had initially sparked his fascination, though later it had become equal parts fascination, protectiveness, and sheer attraction - partly physical, partly emotional. And now that he was actually involved with her, he found he wanted to know more, maybe even all of it.

"Jack-"

"Mm?" Her voice already sounded drowsy, and Gabriel was fairly certain that while she could hear him, she wasn't actually listening.

"I was-" he began, then thought better of it.

For one, Jack was almost asleep and he was loathe to bring her out of it; though she tended to fall asleep fairly quickly, she was by no means a sound or comfortable sleeper. Having slept in the same bed for the past several days, Gabriel knew that she mumbled to herself in her sleep, often twitched and jerked, and sometimes clutched him so hard it bordered on the painful. Small wonder, given her history and the physical and emotional baggage that came with it. As such, he liked to give her as much uninterrupted sleep as possible.

For another - perhaps more importantly - Gabriel knew, or felt he did, that Jack wouldn't want to be pressed on topics she had thus far said nothing about. Had she wanted to reveal any more about herself, she would have already told him. While it was certainly plausible that she was just waiting for him to ask, Gabriel felt in his gut that that wasn't the case. His curiosity could and would wait; her comfort and trust were far more important. He wasn't about to jeopardize their still-fragile relationship over past history, so he dropped it.

"Never mind," he said, keeping his voice low and soothing. "Wasn't anything urgent. Go back to sleep. Sorry to bug you."

"'Kay," she replied, then to Gabriel's mingled delight and confusion, giggled.

"Warm," she went on, answering the question that had formed in his mind but that he hadn't as yet vocalized.

"Ah."

He wrapped one arm across her back and kept the other where it was, with his hand cradling her head and continuing to stroke her hair. Though he didn't fall asleep again himself, it was certainly a more than pleasant way to spend a morning.

* * *

Jack woke up well past mid-morning - closer to noon in fact. Gabriel had resisted the urge to shift into a slightly more comfortable position, as the movement might have woken her; he did, however, risk drawing the blanket up over her shoulders so that her back would be covered.

As Gabriel had observed on several occasions over the past few days, Jack woke with a small start, her gaze frightened, wary, and ready for trouble all at once. As always, however, she relaxed as soon as she caught sight of him, the tension leaving her body and face in a subtle yet still noticeable fashion. And as always, it warmed Gabriel to the core to notice the smile that danced in her eyes when it happened, for all that it never touched her lips. It might have been wishful thinking, but it was what he wanted to believe.

"Good morning. Good nap?" He gave her a small smile as he asked the question, adding a quick rub over her hair for good measure. She craned her head to press against his hand - reminding Gabriel yet again of his ex-roommate's cat - before quickly, almost guiltily, stopping herself.

"Right back atcha," she replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "And yeah. Pretty good."

"Almost lunch time. Wanna eat?"

"In a little bit," she said, molding herself more closely against him. "Still sleepy."

"All right. Just say when."

The message alert on the console chimed.

"I'll get it!"

Much to Gabriel's surprise, Jack came completely awake and pushed off his chest hard enough to force air from his lungs. Then she bounded towards the desk.

"Make sure-" he called.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Bah. It's not from Solus." She sounded disappointed.

"Who's it from then?" Gabriel asked, sitting up in bed. Jack initially ignored him, her attention focused on the display. After a little while, she said something to the terminal that he didn't quite catch, then stomped over to sit on his side of the bed, where she began drumming her heels lightly against the side of the mattress.

"Well?"

"Your friend the admiral," she replied then added, almost as an afterthought, "Live."

"Why didn't you say he was actually on the line?" Gabriel said with a sigh, swinging his legs onto the floor as quickly as he could while being careful not to hit her as he did so. Jack only shrugged, the rhythm of her heels going from a steady beat into a rather more irregular cadence.

Shaking his head, Gabriel made his way to the console, where he found a surprisingly calm Tadius Ahern beaming at him from the holographic display.

"Sorry about the delay, Admiral," he said, running one hand first through his close-cropped hair, then over the stubble on his chin. "Just getting out of bed. Slept in late today."

Even as the words left his mouth, Gabriel mentally kicked himself for not being alert enough to realize that there was more than one way his matter-of-fact statements could be interpreted. For his part, Ahern didn't disappoint.

"Don't blame you one bit, Shepard," Ahern replied, his grin growing so wide that Gabriel was afraid he was going to start waggling his eyebrows. "Me, I might never get out of bed if I was in your shoes."

"Admiral, that's not-"

"Don't be a prude. We're men of the world, been around, all that. Know what's what. No point in being embarrassed about it." Ahern's grin disappeared and his brow wrinkled.

"She doesn't look too happy though. Did I interrupt something? Can call back a later, if you like. Not too much later though. Bit of time-sensitive stuff on my plate."

"Or maybe," he went on, the light of comprehension dawning on his face, quickly followed by a look of faint disapproval, "You aren't treating her like she deserves. Didn't take care of her needs. Never took you for the selfish type, Shepard. Shame, that."

"Admiral-"

"If I were a younger - not a lot, mind, just a bit - and she wasn't so obviously stuck on you, I'd take her away and treat her right."

"Ad-"

"But I guess it's none of my business how you two conduct your, ah, _intimate _affairs. Jack looks like she can set you straight if you really piss her off anyway. Still-"

"ADMIRAL!" Gabriel finally shouted, once again not realizing what he was doing until after he had already done it. The exclamation brought a snort and a short, sharp laugh from behind him; on the monitor, Ahern frowned.

"No need to shout, Shepard. I can hear you fine." Ahern turned his face from the video pickup, saying something to someone out of Gabriel's field of view. "Javos tells me the connection is reading green from this end. Maybe your problems are on yours."

For his part, Gabriel was just happy that all he had gotten was a frown. Though he wasn't technically part of the Alliance chain of command anymore, Ahern was still a superior officer and, more importantly, a friend. But sometimes, Gabriel told himself, you needed to shout to be heard. He took a deep breath and steadied his voice.

"Admiral- Ahern. Glad to hear from you but I wasn't expecting you to call before tomorrow. Something wrong?"

"What? Wrong? Look at this shit-eating grin on my face and ask me that again," Ahern said, grinning less wolfishly but no less sincerely than he had earlier.

"Just glad as all hell that this last batch has gone through smoothly and that we're winding down for the refit. Some really good folks came through. Might even give you and your crew a run for their money. Mind, not today or tomorrow, but down the line."

"You know," he went on, looking thoughtful, "I'm really not cut out for this sidelines crap. Might be better than a normal desk job, but not the same as being the tip of the spear. You know what I'm talking about."

"Yes I do. But I get the impression you didn't call just to talk."

"Can't wait to get back to doing whatever it was you were doing, eh?" Ahern said, his expression and tone of voice leaving no doubt whatsoever about what he thought "whatever it was" was.

"Like I said, can't blame you for wanting your fun. Just wanted you to know that me and some of my people here were thinking of having a bash before we split up for our postings during the refit. That's the time-sensitive stuff I was talking about just now. Said so when Jack answered. She didn't tell you?"

"No she didn't," Gabriel replied, turning his head and eyes incrementally so he could see her.

Jack wasn't looking in his direction at all; instead, her eyes were roving around the apartment like she was seeing it for the first time and found it all incredibly interesting. Her hands were tapping out a syncopated beat apparently intended as an accompaniment to the one her feet were performing. While it was rhythmic enough to the point of almost being catchy, it was also obvious she was trying to pretend that she wasn't paying attention.

"Jack-"

Her head stopped scanning and her eyes locked with his so quickly and surely that Gabriel could have sworn he heard the snap as it happened. The expression was the neutral, carefully-nonchalant, distinctly dismissive one Jack used when she didn't want people to bother her yet wasn't willing to actually get in their faces about it; Miranda had gotten that expression a lot lately.

For his part, Gabriel had seen it seldom enough to know that he only got it when he was moving onto dangerous ground. But he had dodged the bullet twice that morning already. _Third time's the charm, I guess_, he thought to himself, and cocked an inquiring eyebrow in Jack's direction.

Jack's brow wrinkled and her eyes narrowed almost to slits; she almost bared her teeth but seemed to stop herself just short when Gabriel showed no signs of backing down. Instead, she tensed her jaw, the muscles bunching visibly, and ground out an answer from between clenched teeth at the same time she slid her gaze away from his.

"Don't do dress-up, Shepard. Not for _anyone_."

"Um, what? Dress-" Gabriel said, initially confused. However, his brain had apparently spun up to operating speed because comprehension followed almost immediately.

"Ahern," he said, turning back towards the face on the monitor. "This party wouldn't be anyplace, well, tony, would it?"

"Best restaurant on the planet, actually," Ahern replied. "Me, I'm a messhall guy, but the food's pretty damn good. Not too frilly either. Besides, only place on Intai'sei that serves that finicky stuff turians eat. Best compromise all around. Does it matter?"

"Only if we need to be gussied up for the occasion. I didn't bring my dress blacks and Jack, well-"

"Is _that_ what crawled up her butt and died?" Ahern said, chuckling. "Never much went in for dressing up myself. Tell her not to worry. Won't be a problem. Got the place to ourselves for the evening, so she can wear whatever she's comfortable with. Guess her hearing shut down when she heard the part about the nice restaurant."

"Jack?" Gabriel looked over his shoulder. She had stopped her drumming and adopted a cross-legged position on the bed, her fingers worrying the slightly-tatty hem of her shirt.

"I heard," she replied, without looking up. "Sit-down parties ain't really my thing, but I'll go. But only because he's your friend. And tell him I'm going to be packing. Not negotiable."

"Ahern?"

"Got it in one, Shepard. Like I said, not a problem. I'll send Chief Reddy in a shuttle around six, six-thirty groundside reckoning. Sound good?"

"Works for me. We'll be ready."

"See you later then. Both of you."

Gabriel shut down the console and went over to the bed to sit beside Jack; she was still picking at the shirt hem, eyes still apparently intent on the task. When he gently placed his arm around her shoulders, she initially made as if to shrug it off, then relented at the last moment. However, she didn't lean into the contact as she had usually done over the past several days, instead staying as she was: close, but at a definite, albeit slight, remove.

"Didn't think the prospect of getting dressed up would piss you off that much," Gabriel began.

"Only part of it. Small part at that," Jack replied, her voice soft, still not looking at him. "Push came to shove, I'd just show up in my usual gear. Might even show up not wearing anything. Push buttons, y'know?

"Not gonna be able to stay here forever, yeah?" she went on. Puzzled, Gabriel looked at her then. She looked back. Though her face was composed, he thought he could see a hint of sadness in her eyes and the ever-so-slightly downward cast of her lips.

"Due back on Illium in three days, yes. We-"

"Need to keep moving," she finished, once more looking away. "Got that part. Look, know I gave you shit before-"

"Gave me shit about a lot of things. A lot of it I deserved- What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like listening to yourself a lot, don't you? Still talking here."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, time I got on your case about running around, putting out every fire you could find?"

"Day we got here."

"Yeah. Wasn't just busting your balls for the fun of it. Not much, anyhow. Meant it.

"Been running my whole life. Even on Pragia. From the experiments, from the cops, from other screws, everyone. Sometimes every _thing_. Exciting, but not twenty-four-seven. Get me?"

"Think so."

"I ain't stupid. After what we did, we got to keep running. Or at least moving. Harder to hit. I get that. But-" Jack paused then, looked him in the eye, then just as quickly looked away again.

"But?"

"Not gonna to be the same when we get back to the ship. Won't be just Shepard anymore, gonna be _Commander_ Shepard again. Stuff to take care of, people to schmooze or slag depending. What we're gonna be doing, gonna be for all the marbles. Can't slack off. Wouldn't want you to either. Not who you are. It's just-" Jack took a deep breath before continuing.

"Been- been nice to stop running. Like here- us. Even if only for a bit. Even if it don't last. Even if it's just a pretend-stop. Making sense?"

"Makes sense. What's it got to do with this party though?"

"Fucking clueless," she said, shaking her head in disgust. "Going to last what, two, three, hours?"

"Maybe more," Gabriel said. "Depends on how lively it gets and stays. But I still don't-"

"Say four then. Four hours where it ain't just us."

"Ah. I get it now. Wasting time?"

"More than usual. Don't know how long we've got. None of us. Don't wanna waste it."

"But we went to Pinnacle Station a couple of days ago," Gabriel pointed out. "Didn't faze you then."

"That was before. But when you woke up whiter than the damn sheets, when I spazzed out- Got me to thinking, _really_ thinking, about, about everything." Jack lifted her hands, palms up, then dropped them back into her lap.

"I see. Think so, anyway," Gabriel said, pulling her closer and placing his free hand over both of hers. "Well, it's early yet. Not too late to call Ahern and tell him we changed our minds. I'm sure he'd understand. Boy, would he." Gabriel shook his head as he contemplated what the admiral would surely be thinking when Gabriel told him.

"No!" Jack said. Then, as if realizing she'd spoken a little too loud, made a conscious effort to lower her voice again. "Said I'd go. He's your friend. Seems like a nice enough guy too, for a military type. Don't know that I'll like the whole deal, but I'm game."

"Serious about not wasting time though," she went on, climbing back into bed, her hands urging him to do the same. "So get back in here so's I got something to lean on while I'm looking out the window. Headboard's too damn hard. Hero like you should really get some nicer stuff."

* * *

They ended up skipping lunch altogether, but Jack said nothing about wanting to eat, and for his part Gabriel didn't mind either. They could always load up at dinner if calories became an issue, although a faint, niggling worry gnawed at the back of Gabriel's mind regardless. Not having enough energy in reserve could cause problems for biotics, more so than where non-biotics were concerned; it had happened all too often on Torfan. On Intai'sei, however, it was exceedingly unlikely that either of them would have to exert themselves at combat levels, so Gabriel put his anxiety down to overdeveloped paranoia and shoved it to the back burner. But neither he nor Jack had survived as long as they had by taking anything for granted, so the concerns were there all the same, like an itch that you couldn't quite scratch.

As it was, they spent the next several hours sitting in bed, Jack leaning back against him, her arms resting on his where they were wrapped around her midsection, his chin placed lightly on her left shoulder. Every so often, she would move her head slightly, rubbing her cheek against his stubble, almost as if to reassure herself that he was still there, that he was still real.

It made him feel warm, a warmth separate from but related to the feel of her skin against his own. He would have smiled, but not wanting to break her mood, he kept it from his face. Instead, each time she did it, he gently pressed back and tightened his arms fractionally around her, the gestures a wordless reassurance more eloquent than anything he could have said.

Once, unable to restrain himself, he kissed the lobe of her ear. It was light, almost lighter than the whispery breeze from a butterfly's wings, but Jack started, looking at him with an expression equal parts surprise, consternation, annoyance, and delight. Her left hand came up, giving the side of his head a gentle cuff that turned into a fleeting, feathery caress before she quickly returned the hand to its previous position.

"Goddamn weird, I fucking swear," she said, so softly he might not have heard had they not been so close. Gabriel's only answer was a smile that, this time, he didn't bother to hide.

And so the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon went by, the time passing altogether too quickly for Gabriel's liking. Jack apparently felt the same way; an hour before the shuttle was due to arrive, he felt more than heard her let out what might have been a sigh before brusquely, almost roughly, removing his arms from around her waist and fairly jumping off the bed. Almost before her feet hit the floor, her shirt was on the mattress and one hand was tugging impatiently on his arm.

"C'mon," she said, an imperious expression on her face.

"You know," Gabriel said, his sense of self-preservation suddenly missing in action, "That's the sort of look I'd expect to see on Miranda. Not you."

"Party or sickbay," Jack replied, letting go of his arm and crossing her arms just under her breasts. "Your choice. Don't make the wrong one."

"Party. Definitely party. What're we doing?"

"Me? Grabbing a shower. You? Keeping watch at the door till it's your turn. Should know that by now. Done it often enough. And get out of your duds. Spray might get 'em wet."

"But if I'm at the door, the spray won't even reach-" The I-ain't-taking-no-shit-from-you look on Jack's face stopped him mid-sentence, making her next words completely unnecessary.

"Bucking for the sickbay trip, huh?" she said, casually but obviously cracking her knuckles, the mass effect field around her hands emphatically underlining the gesture.

"Fine, fine." Gabriel acquiesced, getting out of bed and shucking his clothing, which he quickly folded and placed on the bed. Holding his arms out at his sides, he gave Jack a questioning look.

"Good?"

"It'll do. For now. C'mon. Time's wasting."

Though the whole process was a ritual they had performed just about every day since they had arrived - and a few times before then besides - today seemed different, felt different. In one obvious aspect it was. Jack normally faced the wall, with occasional glances over her shoulder as if to make certain no one was sneaking up on her. Today, she squarely faced the doorway where he was watching, his back up against the seam where the door slid into the wall. Her face, overtly expressionless, had a defiant, almost brazen cast to it, quite unlike the faintly anxious, slightly frightened look she had had on previous occasions.

For Gabriel, the room began to feel warm, overly so, even taking into account the clouds of steam that wafted out of the shower stall and especially when Jack began showering in a manner that wasn't entirely businesslike. But when he moved his gaze away in an attempt to distract himself, her voice reined him in.

"Eyes," she said, voice sharp yet somehow throaty all at once. "On me. No looking like you're thinking of something else."

Gabriel gave the tiniest little shake of his head, a gesture that brought a faint scowl of disapproval to Jack's face, but it was the extent of his protestations. He folded his arms over his chest and tried to lean against the door in a casual fashion, but he was certain the whiteness of his knuckles belied that studied casualness. All in all, it made for an interesting quarter of an hour.

When Jack finally finished, she shut off the water and stepped out of the stall, her skin flushed from the heat and glistening from the thin sheen of water that was still sluicing off her form. Grabbing a towel, she threw it over one shoulder and walked toward him. As she did, she said:

"Your turn. Might want to hurry it up a little." She paused then, glancing briefly downward before fixing him with an unreadable look as she walked out the door. "Might want to make it a cold one too."

Gabriel waited until the door had closed behind her before vigorously shaking his head and scrubbing his face with his hands. The shower he took was one of the quickest he had ever taken, and it was very, very cold. He hoped it would be enough to prevent him from walking funny the rest of the day.

* * *

A little over forty-five minutes later, he and Jack were both dressed - him in a three-year-out-of-date suit he had found near the back of the closet, Jack in her usual outfit - and waiting for the arrival of the shuttle that would take them to the party. Jack had her Carnifex locked to her hip and the Locust at the small of her back where her Eviscerator usually rode; for his part, Gabriel had his customary Shuriken ensconced in a shoulder rig that he hoped didn't make too prominent a lump under his jacket.

"S'funny," Jack said. They were sitting side-by-side on the couch, Gabriel's arm around her shoulders, her hand on his thigh just above the knee - high enough to be intimate, but low enough not to be overly distracting.

"What is?"

"For someone who totes a Claymore around, you sure seem to like that dinky Shuriken a whole lot."

"Claymore doesn't go too well with civvies. Bit of overkill."

"Never bothered me."

"That's you. And if that's true, where's the assault rifle? Or the Eviscerator? Or come to think of it, both?" Gabriel grinned. Jack's answer was mumbled, unintelligible.

"Didn't quite catch that."

"Said you're a fucking prick. Scratch that. Least pricks are useful sometimes."

"Ouch."

"'Sides, not always about the stuff you see." Jack lifted her hand from Gabriel's thigh, grabbed his free hand, and shoved it under her vest; the action placed his palm squarely over her left breast. Gabriel froze, keeping his hand very still.

"Goddamn asshole," she said, slapping his arm with her other hand. "Would've asked if I wanted you to feel me up."

"Um, who was it that grabbed my hand and put it there in the first place?" he retorted, just a little annoyed.

"Fine, maybe should've just showed you. So long as you're there though- hey! Don't you try any funny stuff. Just kidding, yeah? This is what I mean."

Jack moved his hand further toward her side, to the approximate location where he wore his own shoulder rig. Gabriel was fighting down a vague sense of disappointment when her hand closed around his, making his fingers tighten around something hard.

"You know, never struck me as the type to do concealed carry," he said, his tone conversational.

"This other stuff's for show. So's they don't think about that number. Go ahead, have a look."

His fingers deftly released the positive-retention catch and drew out the pistol, smaller by far than any other service pistol he had handled. Despite the flashy chromium plating, he recognized it instantly.

"Recluse," Jack said, echoing the thought that had formed in his head.

"Never struck me as the type for flash and dazzle either," Gabriel said, turning the weapon over in his hands.

"Souvenir from Omega. Would've wanted a matte finish myself. But you take what you can get."

"Isn't it almost as rare as a Locust?"

"This one's rarer. Modded to take hi-cap milspec sinks so it gets as many shots as a Carnifex in a way smaller package. Punch through a turian exo easy. Take down a krogan, you place your shots right."

"I know."

"More important, been wearing that thing since, well, since forever. Never even noticed, didya?"

"Didn't even suspect, actually."

"Not the only one. Rest my case. Your tool's beeping," she said, her grin smug. Gabriel rolled his eyes and checked the omni-tool's display.

"That our ride?"

"Yeah it is. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Let's get this over with."

~ End Day 5, Part 1 (to be continued) ~


	6. Day 5: Oasis Intermezzo Part 2 of 2

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2+ Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

**Author's Foreword- **_Before the spiel, the boilerplate:_

_Bioware/EA owns all the applicable characters and trademarks; I make no profit from this piece of fiction. Rated M for the occasional vulgarity and instance of innuendo; Jack and Shepard still aren't having sex and I don't know when they will. If it's any comfort, it's not a question of 'if.' Critiques and comments are welcome, flames and trolling will be deleted unremarked._

_Again I would like to thank everyone who's been patiently waiting for me to publish another installment in this tale. If there are any newcomers out there reading these chapters for the first time, I bid you welcome and hope that you enjoy your stay. I would also like to thank all of you, newcomers and long-time readers alike, for taking your time to step into this little piece of make-believe. Your attention is very much appreciated._

_As always, a thankful shout-out goes to the people frequenting _Into the Bad Girl: Jack Fans_ on the official forums on the Bioware Social Site, who have always been the source of many an idea to flesh out this narrative as well as providing insights into the characters I would otherwise have been hard-pressed to reach on my own._

_Please bear with me, as this second part is easily the longest of all the installments thus far. In fact, it's the longest piece of work I've done in some years. As such I apologize in advance for any awkwardness in pacing or delivery; between the length of time it took me to piece it together and the way it just kept on growing in the telling, I suppose such flaws were inevitable. I can only hope that I haven't let the readership down too badly. :)__ Without further ado, here it is: _

[2010.08.05]

Day 5: Oasis Intermezzo ~ Part 2 (of 2)

Intai'sei's weather was quiet that afternoon. As they left the apartment and crossed the stretch of sand-swept paving connecting the building to the landing pad, there was barely enough wind to stir the grains underneath their feet, let alone cast sand about in the blowing clouds that had marked so much of their visit. But the temperatures were as high as ever, making Gabriel wish he had done the practical thing and worn his armor.

_Might be a dry heat but it's still damn hot_, he said to himself as he felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck and underneath the collar of his dress shirt. On the other hand, all Jack had was a very light sheen of sweat on the areas of flesh exposed by her outfit; otherwise, she looked unperturbed, although that was perhaps due in large part to the visor and breather obscuring much of her face.

They crossed the particle abatement field into the climate-controlled confines of the shuttle, Gabriel pausing momentarily to savor the coolness of the air. He then sat in his usual seat, his back to the bulkhead separating the pilot and passenger compartments, Jack taking _her_ usual spot directly across from him. She said nothing as she sat down, removed her breather, and powered down her visor. While Jack had never been particularly garrulous, her silence - so soon on the heels of their closeness in the apartment just before the shuttle had arrived - had a different, faintly melancholy air to it.

"Ready?" Gabriel asked, getting only a single curt nod in reply. He gave her a gentle, slower, nod by way of acknowledgment before calling out:

"Chief? We're settled back here."

"Right you are, Commander. Good to have you back on board. You too, ma'am."

"Likewise," Gabriel replied. Jack continued to say nothing, crossing her arms across her chest, fingers tapping restlessly on the exposed flesh of her upper arm. "Are we good on time?"

"No worries there, sir. Even with the restrictions on speed and taking ballistic trajectories in-atmosphere, we're still kitty-corner with Thoreau from here."

"Good to hear."

"Stand by. Lifting now. Next stop, Thoreau Mesa, ETA one-five minutes local standard."

As always, there was very little sense of motion as the shuttle took off. Even though Gabriel could look out the window and see the dunes rushing by, everything looked so much the same that he couldn't get a good impression of their real speed. Every so often, the outskirts of a wind farm or other homestead would flash by, but that was the extent of the view. Not that he was paying much attention anyway. There were things he had to do.

He stood up, the gesture earning him a quizzical look from Jack, who had stopped drumming her fingers and taken to resting her elbows on her knees, hands loosely clenched in front of her, her head bowed - at least until his movement prompted her to look up. Gabriel cocked his head and smiled, even as he crossed the aisle with a single stride and settled himself into the space next to her.

Jack cursed as a small pocket of turbulence jostled the shuttle, making Gabriel bang his hip into the Carnifex she had holstered on her left. Still cursing under her breath, she unclipped it and transferred it to the opposite side, while her brows wrinkled in what seemed like mingled annoyance and embarrassment.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing, Shepard?"

Gabriel paused briefly as he considered whether to give a snappy answer. It took him almost no time at all to decide that, given Jack's currently-mercurial mood, being frank was the best decision.

"Wanted to sit next to you," was all he said. He got a confused, angry look in return.

"Shit, you're such a sap."

"If I'm cramping your style, I can move back-" he said, making as if to stand and re-cross the aisle.

"Sit down, fucker," Jack replied, her left arm hooking into Gabriel's elbow, keeping him in place. "Goddamn Vanguards. Always bouncing around. Never shoulda given them L5ns. Can never sit still."

Gabriel could have noted that in the course of their association - professional and otherwise - he had never been one to be constantly on the move, combat excepted. Hell, he didn't even fidget at rest. But he was too busy looking at Jack to be quite so pedantic. She noticed.

"Now what're you looking at?"

"You," he said. Jack rolled her eyes before looking away.

"Whatever. Weirdo." But she didn't let go. Gabriel maneuvered his captive arm until he could clasp her hand in his, squeezing lightly when he was finished. It got him another bemused look. Still, her free hand came up, haltingly, before lightly settling on their joined hands and squeezing back. Gabriel smiled - a gesture Jack pointedly ignored - and they stayed like that until the shuttle reached Thoreau Mesa.

As its name implied, the planetary capital was built on top of and partially inside a massive butte that rose from the desert floor near Intai'sei's equatorial band, making it an ideal location for launches and landings and shielding the city from the worst of the planet's weather. What the local terrain couldn't handle, a localized low-grade kinetic barrier did; from what Gabriel had read, it was enough to mitigate the particulate assault from a Class 5 sand storm, although it could do nothing to shield against the heat.

The shuttle headed for the military port on the outskirts of the urban area; it was a fair bit larger than the civilian field a few clicks away, as Phoenix - by virtue of Pinnacle Station's presence in the system - was essentially a military zone. The service industries that supported the military population and installations of Phoenix were Intai'sei's primary generators of revenue, even more so than the wind farms that dotted the face of the planet. In fact, many of those farms derived large portions of their income from supplying those selfsame military installations with supplemental power.

When the vehicle grounded, the blast of heat that greeted them as the doors opened was, if possible, even more ferocious than the heat rising off the dunes outside the apartment.

"Damn. That's something," Jack said, running one hand over her scalp as she stepped toward the threshold.

"Isn't it? Beginning to remember why I never enjoyed my tours on planets whose only seasons were hot and hotter. Probably the tarmac releasing all that heat it soaked up during the day."

"Hope we got some transport to this eatery, Shepard. 'Cause I sure as hell ain't gonna walk-" Jack said, before suddenly clamping her mouth shut. Gabriel looked at her inquiringly but got no answer. On a hunch, he followed the direction of her gaze.

"Sorry sir. Ma'am," Chief Reddy said as she emerged from the control compartment. The pilot was encased in a full set of flight armor, her helmet tucked into the crook of her elbow. "LocGov hasn't allowed overflights of the central urban areas for over a year now. Security concerns."

"Do tell," Jack replied, voice fairly dripping with sarcasm.

"The admiral has arranged transport, though. The base keeps a ground car or two in the motor pool for visiting VIPs. I'll go get it and then we'll be on our way."

"You do that."

"Yes ma'am. That I will." The pilot snapped off a salute, then put on her helmet and descended the ramp.

"Jack-" Gabriel began, as the Chief disappeared into one of the hangars that lined the field.

"What?" Jack replied, her expression innocent.

"Look, I know you don't have much use for authority or military types-"

"'Cept you."

"-But that wasn't really necessary," Gabriel finished, glossing over the interruption.

"Wasn't it?"

"It's not like she got in your face or anything."

"Didn't she?"

"No, she-" he said, in the split-second before comprehension struck. "Wait, you think-"

"Not as dumb as you look."

"I'm not interested, okay?"

"Might be as dumb as you look, at that. Know _you_ aren't. But she _is_."

"And you know this how?"

"I can tell. Like I told you before, I get feelings," Jack replied, lightly tapping the center of her chest with a finger. She followed the gesture with a shrug whose nonchalance didn't fool Gabriel for a second.

"I mean, you're goddamn _Commander Shepard_. Catnip to the military folks, especially the rank and file.

"Besides," she went on, "Tall drink of water like her? Well built, easy on the eyes, textbook soldier through and through. Your lost girlfriend was like that, right?"

"She doesn't look at all like Ash."

"Maybe not looks, but cut from the same cloth and all that sort of shit."

"Isn't that just a little bit paranoid?"

"Doesn't mean someone's not out to shank you when you got your back turned. You know that as well as anybody. Maybe better than anybody except me."

"Don't suppose there's any way to convince you there's nothing to worry about?"

"You? No. 'Cause it ain't about you. Trust you. Everyone else? Not a chance. Just looking out for me and mine, is all."

Jack beckoned him over, toggling her visor back on with her other hand. Gabriel paused for the briefest of instants before throwing his hands up in surrender and moving next to her, shaking his head as he did. A few minutes later, the Chief pulled up in the promised ground car; Gabriel and Jack piled into the rear bench seat and they resumed their journey to Ahern's party.

* * *

It took them the better part of half an hour to get into the city center. For all that it was Intai'sei's capital, Thoreau Mesa was still small as cities went, which meant that they passed by a lot of empty or sparsely-populated spaces before they reached the urban portions. The entirety of those would have fit into the Presidium's main drag with room to spare; surprisingly, Thoreau's own main drag - though it only consisted of one avenue bisecting the city center - was very modern and very, very upscale for a farming planet.

"Spillover, trickle down, whatever. Either works," Jack said, interrupting the silence and yet again apparently reading Gabriel's thoughts.

"What?" Gabriel looked over at her and saw that she was scanning their surroundings with keen interest. She had partially de-opaqued her visor; though he could only barely see her eyes, especially in the fading light, the field was transparent enough for him to see the ghosts of holographic overlays flickering across its inner surface.

"You said Pinnacle looked like someone was throwing money at it. Station's success, town's success, it looks like."

"Does at that, doesn't it? Don't expect a farming planet to look like this anywhere. Even the capital."

"Got that right. Ain't Bekenstein or the Citadel, but really upmarket for a place like this. Makes a great target, 'cept for the military being here. Always did like a challenge, though." At Gabriel's arched eyebrow, she shrugged.

"Old habits die hard. Place looks big enough to have something worth hitting, but not so big that the getaway's too much trouble. Sweet spot." Jack gave Chief Reddy a pointed glance for the first time since they had gotten into the car.

"Just a brain exercise, Chief. No need to go calling red alert or anything."

"Too busy minding the traffic, ma'am. Even if I wasn't, the admiral vouches for you and the commander. That's enough for me."

"Good."

"We're almost there, by the way. It's the place right over there." Chief Reddy lifted her right hand from the wheel and pointed at a section of the main drag about a block from their present position.

Gabriel almost couldn't tell where the entrance was, given that it was right beside the rather ostentatious facade of a hotel that proudly announced itself as the "Shangri-la." He suppressed a groan. If he had had a cred for every hotel, spa, resort, or what-have-you that bore that name, he could have paid for the construction of the SR-2 himself.

It got worse. When he _did_ find the entrance to the restaurant, it was an understated portal to what looked like a classy establishment. Or it would have been, had the sign above the door not christened it with an equally-banal name: "Oasis."

"I mean, really," he muttered to himself without really realizing he was doing it. "How hard can it be to name a restaurant on a desert planet 'Oasis?'" Just plain lazy, that's what that is."

"You say something?"

"Nothing, Jack. It's nothing."

"Yeah? Well, hope the food's good. Not picky, understand, but a girl likes the fancy stuff now and again."

"I'll settle for edible with second, third, and fourth servings. Or a dozen-odd courses."

"Pfft. You military types. Don't know how to have fun."

"And you do." It wasn't a question. Jack's only answer was a grin and an expression that said: "Of-course-dumbass-who-do-you-think-you're-talking-to?" Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, doesn't look like there's parking. You going to be okay out here, Chief?"

"Not going to _be_ here, sir. Us grunts are going to be hoisting a few at a bar a few blocks away. We're on call though, so just buzz us on your omni when the party's over. Welcome to join us if this isn't your speed. Wouldn't mind having you around."

"Course you wouldn't," Jack said, giving Gabriel a significant look and a shit-eating I-told-you-so smile. "You guys have a designated driver?"

"That would be me, ma'am. Have the latest bio-tox filters and everything."

"Figured as much."

The car pulled up to the curb right outside the entrance, Chief Reddy positioning it in such a way that they had the shortest possible distance to cover before they got inside the entryway. Jack briefly fiddled with her visor controls, then unlatched and shoved open the car door. She began to step out of the vehicle, but paused when she noticed Gabriel making as if to follow close behind.

"Gimme a second, yeah?" she said, holding up a hand to stop him rising from his seat. Confused, Gabriel nevertheless nodded and sat back.

Jack hopped out of the vehicle and did a quick scan of her surroundings, paying special attention to pedestrians occupying the expanse of pavement they would have to cross. It was only when there was no one in the immediate vicinity that she gave him a curt gesture to follow.

It took all of perhaps ten seconds to get to the doorway, Gabriel noting with some interest that Jack looked and acted like a professional bodyguard the whole way. He spoke up as they crossed the threshold into the cooler, almost frigid, interior of the restaurant.

"You've done this before," he said.

"Cult," was her only answer as she turned off her visor. It pretty much explained everything though.

"And since when did you care about designated drivers?"

"Since I'm not the one doing the driving. I know what I can handle and still function. Don't trust others to know the same."

"Past history, huh?"

"What do you think?" It was a question that wasn't asking for an actual response, so Gabriel kept his mouth shut. The two of them continued forward, just in time to walk into the middle of a conversation that, from all appearances, had been in progress for quite some time.

"-And no disrespect intended, Admiral, but this is my job we're talking here."

The speaker was apparently the restaurant's maitre d' and was dressed accordingly - in a uniform whose cut was intended to evoke an earlier time, in keeping with the rich wood paneling and understated furnishings of the restaurant itself. That there was even an actual person in the position spoke volumes about the restaurant's perception of itself. Entirely too many service industries had adopted the cheaper expedient of having rows of kiosks manned by a single attendant. The maitre d' was well-dressed and affected a supercilious air, but was otherwise nondescript; removed from the context provided by the surroundings, Gabriel would have been hard-pressed to pick him out of a crowd.

The maitre d' was standing to one side of an actual wooden lectern topped, somewhat incongruously, with a modern holographic display, its glow muted by the light from nearly a dozen crystal chandeliers that provided illumination for the huge, yet nearly empty dining room. Directly across from him stood a scowling Admiral Tadius Ahern; the admiral's arms were crossed over his barrel chest, and every line of his stance spoke volumes about how pissed off he was.

"And I'm telling you that there's no harm in it. We're the only ones here apart from your staff and I can personally vouch for every single one of my guests. Or am I going to have to call Kendrick so he can tell you it's okay to wipe your ass with your left hand?"

"Mister Hamilcar left word that he would be incommunicado for the evening. Something about having company over at his estate. I don't think he would appreciate being bothered."

At that moment, both the maitre d' and Ahern noticed Gabriel and Jack waiting off to one side. The maitre d' managed to get the first word in.

"Excuse me, sir. And…ma'am. But we're closed to the public for the evening. Private party."

Much to Gabriel's chagrin, he was just a heartbeat too slow with a response.

"We're _with_ the private party, dipshit," Jack said, resting her hand on the butt of her Carnifex. When the man looked down at her hand, he visibly blanched, his hand moving surreptitiously toward his omni-tool's controls. In response, Jack ostentatiously flicked off the gun's safety catch - though she didn't unlock it from its place on her hip - and said one word:

"Don't."

"Jack-" Gabriel began, but Ahern stepped in before things could get any more out of hand.

"Relax, Nigel," he said. "They're with me. No need to get your panties in a bunch. Don't tell me you can't recognize Commander Shepard."

"_The_ Commander Shepard?" Nigel said, his voice and manner skeptical, eyes moving critically up and down Gabriel's form. "I thought he'd be taller. And bigger. Certainly better-dressed. And well, dead."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Jack snickered. Even Ahern smiled.

"He gets that a lot lately," the admiral said, his posture relaxing. "But that's him, in the flesh."

"Then it's good to have you here, Commander. But as I was just discussing with the Admiral, you and your…bodyguard will have to leave your weapons at the door."

"I'm not-" Jack said, but Gabriel, following an impulse he didn't even think about, let alone examine closely, interrupted.

"She's not my bodyguard. She's my girlfriend."

Jack, who had turned off her visor, cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at him, but otherwise recovered quickly.

"Yeah!" she said, fixing the maitre d' with a belligerent gaze. "Wanna make something of it?" Her fingers tapped the slide of the Carnifex for emphasis, making Nigel blanch again. When it came, his response sparked a faint ember of admiration in Gabriel. Despite his turning as white as a sheet, Nigel had guts aplenty to stick to his guns in the face of Jack's implied threat.

"It isn't for me to judge other people's preferences. But I must insist on adhering to this establishment's policy of no weapons on the premises."

"Sorry Jack," Ahern said, his voice almost sheepish. "I know I said you could bring your guns in, but Nigel here is even more stubborn than my first ex." Jack's reply surprised everyone, not the least Gabriel himself.

"Not your fault. Not even his fault. Never saw the point personally, but if he wants to keep his shitty job under a tightass boss, it ain't my problem. Here," she said, unclipping both the Carnifex and the Locust from their holster points.

Nigel went from pale to slightly green as the barrels swung in his direction, his color improving - and that only fractionally - when Jack twirled the weapons to present them grip-first. When he took them, Gabriel noted that he handled them competently if not professionally, with obvious attention to safety. _Just how many people walk in here armed anyway? _Gabriel thought to himself as he handed over his Shuriken.

"Well now that that bit of unpleasantness is out of the way," Ahern said, "We were just having some before-dinner drinks. Go on over to where everyone else is and grab yourselves some chairs. I need to discuss a few more things with Nigel here. Something about dinner being slightly delayed 'due to the demands imposed by such a varied guest list.' I'll be along shortly."

"Oh," he went on, as Gabriel and Jack moved toward the low steps that led down to the main dining area, "Order anything you want. My treat of course."

"You sure?" Gabriel asked. "With both of us being biotics and-" Gabriel looked sidelong toward Jack even as he thought of drinks, feeling utterly guilty for doing so.

"-Well you know how biotics eat," he finished, somewhat lamely. Jack looked at him, an amused expression on her face, though she said nothing.

"All accounted for, Shepard. You're not the only biotics in this bunch. And I meant the drinks. Menu's already set for the evening. Don't worry, it's not going to be arty-farty. And there'll be plenty."

"All right," Gabriel said. As he and Jack reached the top step, he raised one hand, to indicate Jack should precede him. "Ladies first." Jack snorted.

"Fuck that. Ain't no lady," she said, grabbing one sleeve and nearly sending Gabriel off-balance in the process. Even so, he thought she looked rather pleased, though he refrained from pointing it out.

"Wasn't expecting you to give up your guns so easy," Gabriel said instead.

"Depends on my mood. Besides, forgotten about this already, huh?" Jack replied. Before Gabriel could stop her, Jack grabbed his hand and shoved it under her vest again. This time, when her fingers forced his own closed, it wasn't over the grip of the Recluse. And instead of chewing him out, she gave him a grin so saucy Gabriel felt his knees go weak.

"No, no," he managed to say, "That isn't something I'd easily forget, if ever."

"Jack," he went on, his voice pitched low and his face struggling to retain some degree of equanimity, "Are you trying to make it ha-"

Gabriel managed to stop himself before he said something he'd get teased about the entire evening and long after besides. The transition he made was hardly smooth, but it spared him most of the embarrassment.

"-Difficult for me to get through the evening without making a fool of myself?" he said, trying to casually withdraw his hand and not entirely succeeding. He just hoped nobody was paying much attention.

"Maybe. Fun seeing you squirm any which way. Gives me that certain warm, fuzzy feeling, y'know?"

"Glad to see I'm a constant source of amusement."

"Don't be a wet blanket. Besides, you looked so down back at the apartment I figured I might as well let you cop a feel now. Anyway, what was up with you and the girlfriend thing?"

"I just thought I'd get it out there before things got out of hand. And I did _not_ look disappointed back at the apartment."

"Huh," Jack said, with the barest hint of disappointment in her tone. "Was that all it was? And yes you did. Gonna have to get up pretty damn early to fool me."

"Well maybe it was wanting to avoid a bigger scene to begin with," Gabriel replied, as the reasons for why he had done it finally crystallized in his thoughts. "Then I figured that since you didn't mind it, why should I? But most of all-"

"Yeah?"

"It got me pissed."

"Pissed?"

"Pissed. That someone would think that you're just some thug I sic on people who piss me off or threaten me. Sure, none of the others on the team are either. But especially not you. And I want that damned clear to anyone who sees you with me. When it comes to us, 'with me' means partner, not subordinate."

"That so?" Jack said, voice neutral. Gabriel, however, thought he saw a smile dancing in her eyes - although it might have just been stray reflections from the crystals overhead.

"Just so," he replied, and they walked on in silence. The trip took longer than Gabriel thought it would. Then again, he reflected, it wasn't like they were in any particular hurry.

"If you pull out a chair so I can sit, I'm decking you," she said, as they finally drew near the large table that was already mostly occupied by nearly two dozen people: a mix of humans, turians, asari, salarians, and, interestingly enough, two quarians. Some were already sitting down, but the majority milled around - albeit still near the table - in small groups of anywhere from two to four individuals.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Couple of seats over there." Gabriel indicated a place near the head of the table. "Any particular preference?"

"That's Dahga, ain't it? You sit by him. Gives you something to do while I stuff my face."

"Suit yourself."

They both sat, Jack almost immediately corralling a hapless waiter and ordering a drink that, to Gabriel's private horror, sounded extremely expensive. Worse yet, she demanded that the server bring out the entire bottle; Gabriel only hoped that Ahern knew what he had let himself in for. For his part, he ordered a bottle of some locally-brewed beer; he didn't want to get too buzzed and he was more interested in the food anyway.

"Commander. Good to see you again," Dahga said, finishing a conversation with his other seatmate just as their drinks arrived.

"Likewise, Dahga. Sorry, _Guard-Captain _Dahga," Gabriel replied with a smile. Dahga laughed.

"We're off-duty. Dahga's just fine."

"Then I'll have to insist you call me Gabriel."

"I think I can manage 'Shepard,' if that's all right."

"Works for me. So, where are you planning to go while Pinnacle's shut down?"

Dahga's face fell - as much as a turian's face could anyway - and he looked down at his drink before taking a hefty swallow. His mandibles worked for a few moments before he spoke again.

"Nowhere pleasant. I take it you haven't heard."

"About what? I haven't been keeping track of the news lately."

"Terrorists hit the capital on Taetrus. With a ship. Not a mass accelerator round, a whole damn _ship_. There's nothing left of the city center. Nothing. Don't know how many dead. I have- had, a lot of friends there. And Vidinos- Never liked him much but no one deserves to go like that."

"I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as those bastards responsible are going to be. But the relief effort comes first. That's where I'm headed. But enough of that," Dahga said, tossing back the rest of his drink and signaling for another. "There'll be more than enough time to deal with it once I'm there. Shouldn't ruin the party for everyone else."

"So Javos," Dahga said, directing his attention to the salarian sitting across from them. "Where are you going?"

"Refresher courses," Javos replied, eyes fixed on the display of his omni-tool. "There have been some new developments in virtual intelligence and holoprojection that look like they'll have applications at Pinnacle once it reopens. I'm hoping to have a proposal ready for the Admiral by then."

"Whatever happened to Ochren anyway?" Gabriel asked.

"Ochren?" Dahga replied, when Javos gave no indication of answering. "He got recruited by Mannovai once his term with the salarian military was up. Heard he developed that new three-sixty interface they're advertising now. He's good, but he never liked working at Pinnacle. You remember what he was like."

"I do. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You know," Gabriel said, looking around at the other people seated at the table, "I haven't the faintest clue who any of these folks are."

"Our only real point of confluence is that we've been at Pinnacle and we're friends of the Admiral's. This is more like three or four separate functions at once, really." Dahga shrugged and sipped at his drink.

For his part, Gabriel took a mouthful of beer straight from the bottle. It earned him a nod of approval from Jack, who took a hefty swig from her own rather larger container after first clinking it lightly against Gabriel's beer. She didn't seem inclined to communicate further, so he turned back to Dahga.

"Surprised to see quarians. Didn't know they'd sent any marines to Pinnacle, or that Pinnacle was even taking quarian trainees."

"You can thank the Admiral and your Councilor Anderson for that one. Between the two of them, they managed to talk the higher-ups into allowing it. Mostly based on your experience with them on Haestrom, I hear."

"Is it just me or do they seem joined at the hip?"

"More like sharing suit atmosphere," Dahga replied, chuckling. "Worst-kept secret on Pinnacle. Arrived separately, but something happened during training - damned if I know what. Never saw anything even faintly romantic about Pinnacle myself, but I guess it takes all kinds."

A slight but definite push from Gabriel's other side surprised him enough that he nearly knocked over his beer. He turned toward Jack, but only saw her tip the bottle back for another drink; when she noticed him looking at her, her expression was one of wide-eyed innocence - ruined when the corners of her mouth turned up in the slightest of smiles. Across from them, Javos' brow wrinkled - at least as much as his facial structure allowed - and he unselfconsciously waved his omni-tool in their direction, his digits tapping at the controls. What he saw must have satisfied him, because he lowered the device, muttering to himself. Gabriel couldn't hear very well over the noise generated by the others, but he thought he heard something about localized mass-effect fields.

He turned back to Jack, just in time to see her move as if she were about to push back her chair and prop up her feet on the table. Gabriel frowned, not much more than a slight curl of his lip. She turned the motion into a slide-slouch halfway into the seat, one hand grabbing her bottle for another swig, while the other started drumming on the tabletop. The expression in her eyes - which had not left his all through her pull from the bottle - was one of "gonna-pay-for-that-later." Gabriel sighed. Though he kept it as low as possible, the sound drew him an amused look from Dahga and another round of omni-tool scanning by Javos.

Bemused, Gabriel took another, larger drink from his beer, emptying it in the process; he held up his hand for another. It arrived promptly and he took a hefty pull from it almost before the server placed it on the table. He sighed again; the actual meal couldn't come soon enough - for any number of reasons. All things considered, however, everyone - Jack included - was being well-behaved, although she gave him a not-unpleasant start when she slipped her near hand under the tablecloth and briefly squeezed his thigh just above the knee before bringing it back into view. She then moved her own knee to touch his, smiling knowingly at him the entire time. It was a little while before Gabriel realized Dahga was asking him a question.

It was a total of four beers - Gabriel had scaled back on his drinking after the third one - before Ahern returned. Jack was well into finishing her second bottle; Ahern laughed appreciatively at her choice as he walked past - earning him a grin in the process, which apparently pleased the admiral immensely. As he reached the head of the table, the small talk slowly died down until there were only the faint sounds coming from the direction of the kitchen and the only slightly louder sounds of the chandelier crystals slowly clinking against each other as they swayed gently in the air currents.

"I'll keep this short and sweet. One, because we've been living cheek by jowl these past few weeks, so there's really nothing to be said. Two, because we've all been waiting long enough and, like me, you're probably all fucking starving. So I'd just like to say it's been good knowing you all, and I wish us all the best of luck in everything we do from here on out. Now let's eat."

The admiral sat down to heartfelt applause, although whether that was due to the brevity of Ahern's speech or its content, Gabriel couldn't really tell. As everyone straightened up their chairs or bellied up to the table, he found that, in fact, he was starving. The day had been the longest he had gone without eating since the odd bout of privation during his Alliance service - not counting his two-odd years spent under Cerberus' knife, of course. Though he didn't feel light-headed or anything, he was certainly looking forward to tucking into dinner.

The appetizer course didn't disappoint, except that it was over too quickly despite the generous portions, all color-coded so that there would be no digestion-troubling faux pas. The clear soup was equally good, but still not quite enough to take the edge off. So it was that when the first of the main courses arrived, he was wondering whether he needed to use his napkin to hide the fact that he was practically drooling. Beside him, Jack had polished off her portions with aplomb if not grace, and was impatiently tapping her knife against her water glass, the ringing tones of the full-lead crystal drawing one or two disapproving glances from the braver souls around the table. Jack ignored them.

The plate the server placed in front of Gabriel was apparently piled high with some sort of pasta-analogue, sauced to perfection - at least to Gabriel's untrained eye - and laced throughout with enticing chunks and tidbits that could have been flora or fauna. Right then, Gabriel didn't much care which; he took up a heaping forkful and tried to twirl it around the utensil with only moderate success. Giving up, he raised it to his mouth. It wasn't as though anyone else at the table was paying particular mind to their manners anyway.

Beside him, Jack spat and let loose a string of blistering curses even as her hand shot out and grabbed his arm, making him drop the fork onto his plate with a loud clatter. The buzz of conversation around the table - which had resumed at the conclusion of Ahern's speech - abruptly stopped.

"Don't," she said, shaking her head for emphasis, her voice tight and her jaw working in a manner Gabriel recognized as barely-contained anger.

"What?"

"Turian grub."

"You sure? It doesn't look like turian food. The dishes are aren't marked that way either."

"Was broke and desperate a lot," Jack replied, the look in her eyes leaving no doubt as to how serious she was. "One of those times, tried stealing food from some turian place. Didn't know any better then. Stupid kid. Never forgotten the taste of it. Or how sick I got after. So don't," she repeated.

"If I may, Commander?" Dahga said, making as if to reach over with his own fork. Gabriel nodded. The Guard-Captain took a small forkful, chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds, then swallowed.

"Prepared to the highest standards," he said, placing the utensil back on his own plate. "And definitely turian. One of our- spicier dishes too. You'd have been fortunate to ingest this and only come away with cramps."

"You," he went on, looking at Jack, "Must have chosen one of our better establishments if you can identify this."

"Sonofa-" Jack snarled even as she pushed her chair back from the table, the chair legs screeching alarmingly as they gouged furrows in the polished floor. She stood up and grabbed one of the serving staff, who had just emerged from the kitchen with a cart bearing the next course. The indigo light from her mass effect field played over the man's face, turning it a sickly hue.

"Gimme one reason I shouldn't pull this fucking place down around your ears."

"Pardon me, ma'am, but I have no idea what you're talking about," the server replied, voice calm despite the obvious danger of his situation. Even so, a line of sweat had broken out on his upper lip and across his high forehead.

"Whose bright idea was it to serve us turian grub in plates marked for humans? Made to look kinda like human food too. If it's a joke, it ain't funny. Not one fucking bit." Her mass effect field flared brighter, as if to add emphasis.

"The- We- we're all rigorously trained to serve food properly," he replied, his fright finally breaking through his veneer of equanimity. "Comes with the restaurant catering to multiple species. We haven't had a mix-up since we opened four years ago."

"You do now. Who plates this shit?"

"The chef does. We just bring it out."

"Where is he?"

"He got a call. Family emergency, he said. The sous chefs had to take over."

"Motherfucker." Jack fairly spat out the word. "How long?"

"Not five minutes ago-" The waiter's answer was cut off in mid-sentence as Jack pushed him out of her way, depositing him none-too-gently on one of the empty tables, scattering table settings in the process. She was already gone from the dining room, the swinging kitchen doors the only evidence of her passage. Gabriel ignored the hubbub that had broken out behind him and rushed through the doors after her, hoping to catch up before she did any real damage. He was just a little too late.

The kitchen was a scene of chaos. Racks had been knocked to the floor, spilling food, cutlery, and china. Pots and pans had been swept not-so-neatly from where they rested on cooktops, splashing hot food everywhere. By some miracle, none of it had landed on any of the staff, all of whom looked essentially unhurt, if a little wide-eyed. After a cursory examination of the scene, Gabriel dismissed any further concerns for their well-being and looked to see where Jack had gone. It wasn't particularly difficult.

The door of the staff entrance was missing, having been punched out of its frame into the alleyway outside. Beyond, nearly at the far end of the alley, Jack stood silhouetted inside the light of her mass effect field, her arm swinging in an arc that began above her head and ended at waist-height. It was a gesture Gabriel had seen her use countless times before; despite that, he wasn't quite prepared for the results.

An aircar fell out of the sky, seemingly pulled to earth by an unseen hand, which in essence was exactly what had happened. At first glance, it looked to land with the mightiest of almighty crashes, but instead it seemed to merely kiss the ground before settling onto the pavement. It was only the almost-inaudible crunch of breaking concrete and the low, drawn-out crumpling of composite bodywork that indicated that the landing hadn't been as gentle as it looked.

Transfixed, Gabriel stood there as Jack sauntered over to the driver-side door. There was nothing gentle about the way she opened it. The glow around her flared brighter and the door ripped from the vehicle's body with a tearing screech that set Gabriel's teeth tingling, the panel sailing off to hit a wall with a dully-resonant thud.

Jack bent over then, her field still rippling around her form and casting stark shadows across the walls of the buildings on either side. When she straightened, she held a struggling figure in a biotic grip a small ways above her head. The sight broke Gabriel's paralysis, and he called out:

"Jack!"

At the sound of her name she glanced toward him, in the process letting Gabriel see that the visor once more covered her eyes. But it was only for the briefest of moments, then she turned her attention back toward her captive, her lips moving, perhaps asking questions. Gabriel couldn't hear much more than garbled voices, but he didn't need to make out actual words to know that whatever answers had been given didn't satisfy her. The hand Jack was using to hold the figure in place drew back while her other hand came forward, even as one more round of angry words flew between the two. Gabriel started forward, intent on stopping her, but he was too far away. He could only think of one thing to do.

_This could be bad_, he thought to himself, feeling the pressure mount behind his eyes until it felt like they would burst from their sockets. Chakwas and Mordin had both assured him it was purely psychological, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it was. As the charge built, the HUD in his vision highlighted several possible spots where he could end his movement, and not for the first time Gabriel found himself wishing that he could just turn the damn thing off. He preferred to let instinct and experience guide his choices, and the "help" the cybernetics provided was often more of a distraction than any real aid - not to mention they blocked clear viewing. So he ignored them and picked a spot before slapping the mental button that cut him loose.

Indigo light flared in the alleyway as his implants generated an extended string of short-lived mass effect fields that flared and died so quickly they could only be perceived as a continuous stream. Each one moved him only a short distance, but there were so many that when the last one winked out of existence, he was within reach of Jack. He grabbed her arm, briefly evoking memories of the time he had grabbed Morinth's arm on Omega, a seeming lifetime ago. This time though, he was trying to save a life, not help someone end one.

"Don't," was all he said.

"Why?"

"Put him down first. Please," Gabriel asked, before adding "Alive and in one piece."

"Fuck you," Jack replied, setting the man down anyway. She wasn't gentle, but the landing wasn't violent enough to do much more than induce a sprain or two either. Almost immediately, he started babbling.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou-" The words came out in a rush, tripping over each other in their haste to leave his mouth. Then he paused, swallowed, and something colder, harder, came into his voice. "Wait, you're Commander Shepard-"

"Yeah. Now shut the fuck up," Gabriel said, an impulse he couldn't name making him bristle at the man's tone. An extension of that same impulse made Gabriel punch him. Hard. With the slightest bit of biotic augmentation. The man fell back, already unconscious, to slump against his vehicle.

"You just wanted to hit him yourself," Jack said, her own tone accusatory.

"A little," Gabriel admitted. "But it was mostly to stop you from doing something I'd regret."

"Don't you mean something _I'd_ regret?" Jack shot back, fists balled on her hips, face thrust forward to within centimeters of Gabriel's own.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have regretted what you were about to do."

"Don't trust me? Wasn't gonna hurt him. Much."

"I trust you, Jack. But I also know you."

"Know me that well, huh?"

"Well enough. Can we please not argue?" he added, when Jack looked like she was going to say something more. "It's been a long enough night already." Just then, the weariness hit him and he staggered. Had Jack not caught him, he might actually have fallen.

"Shit! You okay, Shepard?" Jack said, even as she helped him lean against the side of the aircar. Her hands ran over his body, checking for injuries. "If that asshole shot you-" she began, but stopped when she saw that their captive was still out cold.

"I'm okay. Really. Though I might feel better if you checked a bit lower-" Gabriel replied, managing a grin when she shot him a look full of daggers. "Kidding. Just a little woozy. Not enough food in me to go charging about. I'll be fine."

"Got some food bars," she said, a hand unsealing one of the many compartments on her vest and pulling out a foil-wrapped shape. "Here," she went on, offering it to him.

"So do I." Gabriel opened his jacket to reveal several similar foil packets tucked into an interior pocket. "But if you're offering-" He made as if to take the proffered bar from her hand. She snatched it away and stuffed it back into its pocket.

"My stash. Eat your own." Though her tone was sharp, the relief in Jack's voice was almost palpable. "Why didn't you chow down before you pulled a stunt like that anyway?"

"Didn't give me much time now, did you?"

"Well no, but still-"

The arrival of almost the entire dinner party interrupted them. Ahern and Dahga were at the front of the pack, the former carrying a worn but obviously well-maintained Predator, while the latter toted an Avenger. The remainder - even Javos - sported similar levels of armament and in some cases even more. Gabriel noted with some amusement that there was almost as much firepower concentrated in the alleyway as he had brought with him during the assault on the Collector base. Having nothing on him except for his biotics, he began to feel distinctly underdressed for the occasion.

"Shepard." Ahern's voice was level, almost casual, as if standing in an alleyway with a trashed vehicle and a band of heavily-armed soldiers in formal garb was the most normal thing in the world. His face showed his concern, however.

"Admiral," Gabriel said, using the vehicle to prop himself up on his still-shaky legs.

"You two all right?"

"Yeah. Sorry about the damage," Gabriel said, a small wave of his hand indicating what he meant. "I'll make good on it when we get back to the _Normandy_."

"Don't you worry about it," Ahern said with a shrug as he re-holstered his pistol, most of the others following suit with their own weapons. "This is my turf and I'll handle it. Shouldn't be tough to square it with the city council and Kendrick. He owes me anyway. Besides, you're a Spectre again, right?"

"I am. Don't like playing that card any more than I have to, though."

"Bah. It's there to be used. But suit yourself. So long as you're both fine."

"We are. Got a present for you." Gabriel cocked his head in the direction of their still-unconscious captive. "Didn't have time to check if he was guilty."

"We checked. He doesn't pass the smell test, but only just. Main thing is that he didn't get an emergency call. The rest will take a bit more time. But you can bet we'll get to the bottom of it."

Throughout the exchange, Dahga had his head cocked to one side, listening to something on his earpiece. Now, he cleared his throat. Ahern looked at him, his expression expectant.

"Cleanup and custody are on their way, Admiral. We'll secure the scene until they get here."

"Thanks, Dahga. We'll keep the seats warm for you and your boys. Jack, Shepard? Suppose we can finish dinner now."

Some instinct made Gabriel glance at Jack, who had been silent since the others had arrived. Though she leaned casually against the wrecked vehicle, her arms crossed loosely at stomach height, Gabriel saw the subtle telltales in the rest of her body language. He needed no time to come to a decision.

"Begging your pardon, Admiral, but it's been a long night and we still have the sim to run tomorrow. Think we should be heading on home."

"Ah," Ahern said, nodding as he did so. "Fine by me. I'll get the Chief over here ASAP. Means I still owe you both dinner, though."

"Rain check?"

"Rain check it is. See you both tomorrow." Ahern moved off, with the rest following in twos and threes. Dahga and two other members of Ahern's staff stayed behind.

"Commander?" Dahga said, once the others had left.

"Yeah?"

"I took the liberty of retrieving your weapons."

"Thanks," Gabriel replied as he accepted his Shuriken and tucked it into his shoulder rig. Jack said nothing as she took her Locust and Carnifex and locked them into their customary places on her carrying harness.

"Guess we'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes you will, Commander. I'm planning to stay until they turn the lights out."

Gabriel only nodded as he and Jack re-entered the restaurant to wait for their ride home.

* * *

The trip back was entirely uneventful. Jack stayed quiet, withdrawing into herself in a way Gabriel hadn't seen since she had first boarded the _Normandy_. For her part, Chief Reddy had apparently decided that discretion was the better part of valor and said nothing beyond businesslike updates as to their progress and estimated time of arrival. As a result, Gabriel found himself looking out, first at the city lights as they drove back to the port, then at the darkened sands rushing by outside the shuttle. In the moonlight, the dunes and drifts resembled nothing so much as a sea, to the point where Gabriel half-expected a ship to pass by somewhere underneath. In that, he was disappointed. But he was more disappointed by the fact that even when he took Jack's hand, it was like holding the fingers of a doll - lifeless and unresponsive, albeit warm and more yielding. That all changed when they finally crossed the apartment's threshold, however.

"Get into the shower and into comfy clothes. My turn to get dinner started. You can set it out when it's my turn in the bathroom," Jack said, her tone faintly imperious as she stalked over to the wall racks to hang up her guns. That accomplished, she took off her vest and boots before walking to the pantry, where she began pulling trays and placing them into the heating units. As if sensing that Gabriel hadn't moved - which he hadn't, finding himself at something of a loss - she turned and gave him a scathing look.

"What, you turn stupid all of a sudden? Get! I wanna get cleaned up and eating before it gets any later."

Her admonishment spurred Gabriel into action, and he racked the Shuriken and grabbed his house clothes, but not before he made sure that his suit was properly stowed.

Mindful of Jack's impatience, he took a quick, yet thorough shower and exited the bathroom even before he had finished toweling his hair. Jack nodded in approval as he approached the kitchen station.

"First batch is done and on the counter. Second batch will be a few more minutes. Up to you if you want thirds. Don't mind either way. And get us something to drink that ain't tap water." She said this last while stripping off her pants and top, stuffing both articles into the cleaner. "I won't be long," she went on, not looking back as she went through the bathroom door.

"Hey!" Gabriel called, making Jack poke her head back into the living area. "I'm good but I can't conjure something to drink out of thin air."

"Pay attention, Shepard," she said, faint disgust coloring her tone. One wiry arm pointed toward an unfamiliar satchel that rested next to her boots. "Your friend gave us some going-home presents. Should make you carry 'em next time." She went back into the bathroom; through the open door, Gabriel heard the shower start up.

When he looked in the bag, he saw no fewer than two bottles of the stuff Jack had been drinking before dinner, quickly finding that its name was nigh-impossible to spell and even more difficult to pronounce. A tentative sniff set his sinuses to burning, leading him to paw through the bag in the hopes of finding something that wouldn't strip the paint from the walls. He was gratified to find a six-pack of the beer he had been drinking - it had actually been rather good - and he took that and one of the bottles over to the counter. That done, he stored the remainder in the pantry, shaking his head all the while. It looked like they'd be heading back with more luggage than they had brought with them.

He had just finished putting the third batch of trays into the heaters when Jack emerged from the bathroom. Gabriel had become accustomed enough to her walking around naked that he didn't react at first; it was when he heard the slow drip of water onto bare floors that he realized that this wasn't like the other times.

"Jack-" he began. She paused in the act of pulling a towel out of a drawer and cocked an eyebrow at him. Gabriel looked her in the eyes then pointedly looked down at her feet, where a puddle had formed and begun to spread.

"Forgot my towel," she said, shrugging and making even more water cascade off her skin and onto the floor. "You still got to set the table anyway, so I'll get it when I finish drying off," she went on, running the towel over her arms.

"Unless you wanna help me? Dry off, I mean." she asked, giving Gabriel another mischievous smile that made him forget his annoyance. Her tone was teasing, maddeningly so.

Gabriel was already having difficulty thinking straight. As such, he was in no shape to make a decision with so much potential for trouble. As it was, he stood there with a hot tray of food searing a brand into either palm for a long, drawn-out heartbeat that ended only when his nerves screamed at his brain. He hurriedly set the trays on the table, muttering imprecations under his breath. By then it was too late.

"Too slow, Shepard. Missed your chance," Jack said, chuckling as she dropped the towel onto the floor to mop up the puddle and the water trail from the bathroom. That done, she picked up the towel and tossed it into the cleaner with her clothes. Then she took a shirt out of the dresser and slipped it on, walking over to the counter to help Gabriel with the food.

"There you go looking like a kicked puppy again," she said as she snagged some utensils and the bottle he had left out. "I'm starving and so are you. Can't eat when your tongue's dragging on the floor. Doing you a favor." Gabriel tried not to grumble.

It was all forgotten when they sat down and Gabriel took the first bite off his tray. Then it became a struggle to eat without choking, so rapidly did he shove the food into his mouth. He knew he was hungry, but until that moment, he hadn't realized just how hungry he was. Jack's pace was more deliberate, but hardly any less rapid, despite being interrupted by frequent sips from the bottle. Gabriel was too engrossed in stuffing his face to think much about drinking, which nearly tripped him up - he came near to choking on a too-large mouthful before he managed to grab a beer and wash it down.

"Am I gonna have to go over there and burp you? 'Cause I'm warning you now that I'm not gonna do it." Gabriel waved her off and stood up long enough to grab another set of trays and a second beer. After that, they said nothing more until the meal was finished.

* * *

"Y'know-"

"Hmm?" He and Jack were lying in bed on their backs, arm laid against arm, thigh touching thigh, both of them looking up at the stars in another clear Intai'sei night sky. Between the excitement of the evening, the surfeit of food he had eaten, and the post-dinner cleanup, the single non-word was all Gabriel could muster at the moment.

"That run-in at the restaurant door. With the waiter-"

"Nigel."

"Yeah, him. I was gonna say "I'm not handing over my guns," not the girlfriend thing."

"Ah," Gabriel replied, turning his head to look at her. She returned his gaze, a smile playing across her lips and lighting up her eyes. It was something he never tired - and could never get enough - of.

"Yeah. Like your version better though. Good to see you growing some balls."

"Gee thanks."

"Any time."

A little while later, when some of the torpor from the food had worn off, Gabriel had a thought.

"You know, it's funny."

"What is?" Though Jack had eaten easily as much as he had if not more, she never seemed to experience the lassitude that tended to accompany large meals. Not that Gabriel could tell anyway.

"What you said earlier? About it being nice to stop running?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Chakwas said something similar. Back when I first took command of the SR-2."

"The doc? Really?" Jack propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him. Gabriel glanced quickly at her before looking back out the window.

"She said 'Shepard, our immovable center. A place where a person can stop and catch her breath.' Embarrassed me all to hell when she said that." Even the memory made his cheeks begin to burn.

"Embarrassed you enough that you remember it word for word, huh?" Jack's voice held a faint note of affectionate mockery.

"So sue me," Gabriel retorted, his voice gentle, almost contemplative, nonetheless.

"Hey, she gets my vote. True enough as far as it goes, not counting all the shitstorms and stuff blowing up whenever you enter a system."

"I think you're confusing me with you, Jack."

"Whatever. I mean it though. Can see what she's saying. Feel it, even. Just can't explain it too well." Jack looked away then, flopping back down on the bed. "Shit, now _I'm_ fucking embarrassed."

"It's okay. Don't mind the company. Not one bit." It was Gabriel's turn to look at her and smile. Jack's answering smile was brief, tentative, almost stillborn, and vanished as quickly as it appeared. Even so, Gabriel counted himself lucky. He'd expected her to cuss him out or just flat-out ignore him, but apart from the almost-smile she said nothing. It was some minutes before either of them spoke again.

"Shepard-" she began, once more levering herself up on her elbows to look at him.

"What?" Gabriel scooted up on the bed so that he could lean on the headboard and clasped his hands across his stomach, over the blankets.

"You think she- the doc- she, you know, fancies you? 'Cause of what she said. I mean, she ain't bad looking. For an older chick, I mean." Jack looked away as she said it.

"No, no she isn't bad-looking," he agreed. Unlike Jack, he didn't look away. "But she's always been like a big sister to me. From the time I set foot on the first _Normandy_. Or maybe a mother confessor. What's the matter?" he asked, seeing the scowl that crossed her features.

"Nothing. Just remembering the cult."

"Guess the term means something else to you."

"It does, yeah. Nothing good either. So fine, you don't fancy her. Question still stands."

"Honestly? I don't think so. Guess she sees me like something of an anchor. A constant in a changing world. Don't feel like one. I'm not the same guy I was three years ago, even if you don't count dying and coming back."

"Missing the point, Shepard. All the ways that matter, you're the same. Hero back then, still a hero now. Someone to look up to, rally around. The one with the plan to push the bad guys back, get stuff done. That sort of thing."

"Maybe. But you know as well as anyone I make some of this stuff up as we go along."

"Yeah. Results speak for themselves though."

"I suppose you're right."

"You better damn well believe it." Jack turned over to lie on her stomach before continuing, resting her chin on her crossed arms, gaze fixed on the headboard. "Hey Shepard?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember that desk? Back at Teltin?"

"The one in your room."

"That one. Don't need it anymore."

"Thought you stopped needing it when you busted out of there."

"Wasn't being entirely straight about it. Kept it in my head after I got out. Went back to it when things got really bad, y'know?"

Gabriel nodded, even though he knew she probably couldn't see the gesture. In all likelihood the question had been rhetorical anyway.

"Don't need it anymore."

"Why so?"

Jack said nothing. Instead, she turned in his direction, pushed him down on the bed, and wrapped herself around him.

"Ah," was all Gabriel could think to say.

"Shhh. Tired. Wanna sleep."

"Of course, Jack. Of course. Sweet dreams."

"You too." The words emerged as more of a vibration than actual words, pressed against his chest as her face was.

"Thanks," Gabriel whispered, even as he drew the blanket over them both and slowly drifted off to sleep.

~ End Day 5 ~

**Author's End Notes:** _Still reading? Well then thanks for staying on. This is here because I felt that this explanation would be something of a spoiler had I stuck it in with the rest of the notes at the beginning of the installment. If the attempt on Shepard and Jack seems lame, that's because it is and will be noted as such on Day 6 when the matter is investigated (off-screen) more thoroughly. This half-chapter was running on long enough as it was, and I didn't think that adding several more paragraphs of exposition about the man's background and motivation was necessarily appropriate in the given context. It is what it is, a simple incident with no further repercussions beyond what has already been presented, pretty much a footnote, an anecdote. It does not foreshadow more dire events to come (there are more than enough of those in the offing, especially given the recent teaser for ME3) and can be more or less forgotten until the next time one of the crew needs a story to jaw about during happy hour on Omega, the Normandy, or wherever your favorite watering hole happens to be._

_Also, I was hoping to wrap up Things Worth Keeping before the new year, but while I think there's a good chance Day 6 will see the light of day before then, Day 7 will most likely have to wait until next year - hopefully not an actual calendar year. There's simply too much of importance happening on Day 7 for me to rush it; as it stands, events on Day 6 will require some degree of attention just so everything goes just so. I don't like to do half-assed jobs, so I won't rush Day 7 and Day 8 (which is more of an epilogue really) just to meet an arbitrary self-imposed deadline. Of course, whether or not this whole thing IS a half-assed job is really up to you, the readers; even so, I like to make certain - to the best of my ability - that when I publish an installment I didn't just shove it out the door so that I could say it was done._

_But enough rambling from me. Thanks for listening and I hope to have more for your perusal before Father Time goes off-shift for the year._


	7. Day 6: Pinnacle Freefall Part 1 of 2

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2+ Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

**Disclaimer: B****ioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). I make no claims of ownership and certainly make no profit.**_  
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_ Rated M for language and the occasional smidgen of innuendo. No, they still haven't had sex and they won't during this arc of TWK (and when it happens, it won't be at all explicit); though I know which follow-on chapter it'll happen in, I'll beg your indulgence and ask you to wait for it to get posted. Critiques and comments are welcome; flames will burn unremarked and trolls will remain unfed beneath their bridges.  
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_I know that those of you still interested are wanting to get into things ASAP so I'll just let you get on with it. If you want to read some more author-note rambling, it'll be after the end of this portion. Regardless, I would like to thank all TWK's readers, old and new, for being patient with me during this long silence and for liking the story enough to be so. And as always, a shout-out to the forumites on the Jack-related threads on the Bioware Social Network: never would have dared to do this without all you folks.  
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[2010.11.01]

Day 6: Pinnacle Freefall (Part 1 of 2)

The sensation of weight settling onto the mattress woke Gabriel from a light, fitful sleep. Though his first instinct was to reach for the Shuriken under his pillow, two things stopped him. First, there _wasn't_ a Shuriken underneath his pillow: it was up on the wall, which was where it had been ever since the beginning of their stay on Intai'sei - apart from the odd times they had left the apartment of course. He sincerely hoped that breaking that particular longstanding habit wasn't a bad decision, but he felt it was one thing to keep a loaded weapon under your pillow when you were sleeping alone and altogether another when someone else was in bed with you. Not that he didn't trust Jack - far from it - it was just that he didn't want to complicate matters should something arise out of mutual agreement. Besides, between their combined biotic arsenals, anything too tough to handle would be just that. At which point they might as well have stayed on the _Normandy_.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, he knew that it was Jack who had unceremoniously planted herself at his right side. Apart from there being no one else who would reasonably have been there, any outside party would have had to have gotten past Jack first - seeing as how she tended to be up and about before Gabriel even got out of bed. That kind of commotion would have woken him up long beforehand, and anything capable of taking Jack out without a fuss would only be irritated by something as light as a machinepistol. All of which meant that there really wasn't any point in making the gesture.

This entire train of reasoning traveled from origin to destination in less time than it took Gabriel to sit up in bed and open his eyes. When he did, sure enough, Jack was sitting cross-legged beside him, her hands busily working at the mass effect generator housing that comprised the majority of her Carnifex's barrel and upper receiver assembly. While her gaze was directed mostly at the matter in hand, her eyes flicked unceasingly around the room, her manner one of utter alertness. Furthermore, her hands were never very far from the fully-assembled and undoubtedly fully-loaded and unsafed Eviscerator that sat on the towel she had spread over the sheets before beginning work on the Carnifex. Mostly relaxed she might have appeared, but anyone even remotely familiar with how it was to live with danger would be able to tell that she was as prepared for trouble as she could be under the circumstances. It was thus no surprise that Jack looked over at him when he sat up. But it was only the briefest of glances before she turned back to her task.

"'Morning," he said, as the grogginess of sleep quickly fled his brain.

"Hey," came the reply, delivered without looking. Gabriel had never stopped being entranced and amazed at how her voice could make such a simple, mundane word so alluring. At least when she said it with any degree of affection - as she did now.

"There's a workbench for that sort of thing, you know."

Jack looked at him then, her gaze level, almost completely expressionless except for the very fractional raising of one eyebrow. Without looking back down, she reassembled the heavy pistol, slapped in a thermal clip, waited for the low whine that indicated the weapon was functional, then safed it. Still not looking away, she laid the folded Carnifex on the bedside table, then went to work on the shotgun. Her hands were deft, obviously well-practiced; Gabriel was willing to lay odds that she could have done field-stripping with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back.

"Fine, fine. Do what you want," he finally conceded after another minute of trying to stare her down and failing miserably. Instead, he sat up straighter, resting his back against the headboard. Seeing him capitulate, Jack just smirked before looking back down. They were both silent for the next few minutes, the only sound coming from where Jack's hands still worked.

"So, no shirt today?" Gabriel finally said, inclining his head slightly in her direction.

"No," she said, gaze once again locked with his, her mien completely unselfconscious. "Problem?"

"Course not. Worse things to wake up to."

"Better be a lot worse, you know what's good for you," she said, her tone vaguely threatening. But the slight smile that touched her lips and eyes said otherwise.

"Aren't you cold though? It seems a bit…nippy this morning." Gabriel simply couldn't resist making the comment. To his pleasant surprise, the slightest hint of color actually came to Jack's cheeks as she looked down at her torso. She recovered quickly, however.

"Christ, Shepard," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "That is _so_ lame. I'm beginning to wonder if you're not really a goddamn virgin. Can't imagine how you ever got laid with lines like that one."

"Besides," she went on, not letting him get in a word edgewise, "I can always do _this_ if I really get cold."

With a few deft motions, and before Gabriel could react, Jack reassembled and folded the Eviscerator before placing it beside the Carnifex on the bedside table. Then she swept the towel onto the floor and climbed underneath the covers even as she pushed him back down onto the bed. Molding herself around him, she settled her chin onto his chest, looking at him with mischief in her eyes.

"I believe you have me at a disadvantage, Miss Jack," Gabriel said, trying to keep his tone light. It wasn't easy, especially when Jack wriggled ever-so-slightly, but oh-so-maddeningly against him. She knew it too, if the grin that formed on her face was any indication.

"I'd say so. So would someone else," she went on, looking pointedly down their melded forms, her grin growing even wider. It was Gabriel's turn to blush, and he did. But he didn't look away. He didn't want to. Jack must have seen something in his gaze or in his manner, because she _did_ look away, laying her head on his chest and saying one word, so softly Gabriel barely heard it. Instead, he mostly felt it as the faintest susurrus of air across the fabric of his shirt.

"Sorry."

"Why?" he asked, even as he laid one arm across the scarred flesh of her back and used his other hand to gently caress her head, in the process noting that she had once more shaved her scalp down to the tattoos. Some impulse stopped him from commenting on it, however.

"For being a tease."

"You're not a tease," Gabriel replied, "Said it before and I'll say it again. I'll take what I can get that's freely given. That you're comfortable with. No pressure. Well, except for, you know-" he said, still trying to sound nonchalant. The short, sharp, bark of her laugh was all the reward he needed for his efforts.

"Always wondered why they called it the one-eyed liar," Jack replied, her tone brightening. "By my lights, it's always been the most honest thing about guys."

"No comment," Gabriel said, eliciting another laugh. Silence fell for several seconds before he said what was on his mind.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" he asked, his voice quiet, neutral. "Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying myself. Maybe a little too much, but I am."

"Don't know about should," came the equally-quiet answer. "But I want to." As if in emphasis, she snuggled even closer.

"Just a little worried. Old ghosts, and all that." Gabriel kept his touches light, gentle, almost feathery, tracing patterns across the tattoos that covered her skin. Static discharge sparked at his every touch, but not painfully so, more of tingle or tickle than anything else. _Been happening more and more lately though_, he thought to himself.

"No ghosts. Not like this." Jack's fingers traced patterns of their own up and down his left side, then pushed up his shirt to do the same across his chest. She said nothing for a little while.

"The shower? Too damn close to what happened to me on Purgatory," she said eventually, voice low, but with a brittle edge to her tone. "This-" Again she paused. When she resumed, the edge was gone, replaced by something softer, almost happier.

"This-," she repeated, "Nobody's ever held me like this. Most times they didn't give a shit about me, just wanted to get their rocks off. Other times, I didn't let 'em. Didn't let _anyone_ come close to holding me. Not like this. Not even him." The name went unsaid; Jack had told - and Gabriel had heard - the story before. Only once, but it had been enough. She cleared her throat before going on. "This...works."

"Thanks," was all Gabriel could think of to say. And he wondered if he should even have said that much.

"Whatever," Jack replied, although the way she said it lacked her usual dismissiveness. "Just don't fuck with me. It won't be pretty."

This time, he said nothing, just held her, if not tighter, then just a touch more firmly. She moved against him in response, setting fire to everywhere their skin touched, but she never moved for very long. Gabriel knew her well enough, was physically close to her enough in those moments, to feel her reining herself in. It was as though she were stepping close to a brink, every muscle yearning to take the leap - but on contemplating the drop, reconsidering, stepping away. Not coyly, not teasingly, but hesitantly, almost fearfully.

So Gabriel kept his hands - and other things - away from areas of potential trouble, with some measure of success. Though he had always been more proactive over the course of his two lives, in this the first move was hers and hers alone. He settled for placing his lips softly against her scalp, doing nothing more, and savoring the intimacy for as long as it lasted. As it turned out, it lasted just long enough for both of them to get comfortable, but not long enough by half - by his lights anyway.

That was when the comm console chimed for their attention. Gabriel fully expected Jack to bounce out of bed as she had on previous occasions; instead she slowly, quite reluctantly, disengaged herself from their embrace and sat on the edge of the mattress, giving him a quick backwards glance, her expression shadowed, before looking away. Then she stood up and walked over to the desk; there, her finger hovered over the controls for a brief instant before stabbing down with enough force to break the keyboard had it been anything but a haptic interface. Incongruously, Gabriel hoped she had remembered to switch to audio-only before taking the call. The fit of strangled coughing that emerged from the terminal said otherwise, however.

_Funny,_ Gabriel thought, with just the slightest hint of smug self-satisfaction, _I could have sworn Ahern wasn't a prude - or easily flustered_. Smiling to himself, he pulled his clothes into place and got up to stand behind and slightly to one side of where Jack stood.

"Ah, good morning, Shepard and- Jack," said an obviously unsettled Tadius Ahern, who alternated staring bug-eyed at the visual pickup with looking away, the slightest tinge of color darkening his weathered skin. "It's- ahem, good to see you both up and about to- whatever it is you're doing. None of my business, of course, but there it is. Anyway, I was just calling to tell you that we've just seen the last batch of trainees off and Pinnacle is at your disposal for the rest of the day."

"Of course," he went on, his voice growing steadily more confident, "I'd understand if you didn't want to go, given last night's business and your, your, preoccupation at the moment-"

"We're going," Jack interrupted. As she spoke, she crossed her arms under her breasts, the gesture making Ahern look hurriedly away. "We'll be ready for pickup in an hour and a half."

Her finger stabbed down again, cutting off the call. Then, her back still to Gabriel, she turned her head and fixed him with the same expression she had worn when the call came in. Her tone was brusque, businesslike, almost cold, and every line of her body was tense to the point where Gabriel could have sworn she was thrumming like a guitar string.

"We better get ready. Not about to let you go up there on an empty stomach. Not after last night."

"In a little bit." Given her body language, those words might have been among the bravest things Gabriel had ever done. Her response proved it.

"What?" Her voice was incredulous, shading over into anger, and Gabriel thought he could see a glow forming around her. He couldn't be certain, though. Too much sun coming from the windows.

"You said hour and a half, right?"

"Yeah-" Jack replied, curiosity leaking into her tone.

"Figure twenty minutes to shower, twenty to gear up, and thirty to chow down. Leaves us, what, twenty more to spare? Maybe even thirty if we shower quick."

"Guess so. Where you going with this?" Jack's voice was now equal parts curiosity, confusion, and hope. She relaxed, slowly but definitely, the tension draining from her stance.

"Back to the bed. C'mon," Gabriel replied, gently taking her hand in his and coaxing her in that direction. He didn't take her eyes off hers the entire way.

"It's only a few more minutes," he went on, as they settled onto the mattress and he pulled her back into an embrace. "But we take what we can get."

* * *

The trip to Pinnacle was mostly uneventful. The beginning had been a touch rocky – he and Jack had had something of a paranoid moment when the shuttle pilot turned out to be someone unfamiliar, Chief Reddy already having shipped out with the first wave of personnel going on leave. But once things had been sorted, the ride had settled into the sort of quiet routine that had marked their earlier forays outside the apartment. Gabriel sat to Jack's left, her hand resting lightly on his forearm, neither of them saying anything – at least until they got to the midpoint of the journey.

"This going to be as dangerous as you said? Or are you just shitting me?" Jack's tone held its usual bite, but there was something else in the undercurrents that Gabriel couldn't quite put his finger on.

"About as dangerous as the real thing. Medbay's right outside the door - which is a plus - but if you get tagged badly enough, still might not save you," Gabriel replied, looking at her. She didn't meet his gaze; instead, her hand left his arm and twined with with her other hand in her lap, the slightest shake in her fingers betraying the tension in her clasp.

"Good. Not much point to it otherwise." Jack's response lacked its usual certainty, almost as if she were giving the answer expected of her rather than the answer that was really in her mind. Though it might well have been wishful thinking on Gabriel's part.

Their conversation had brought the gravity of the situation home, raising to the fore the doubts that had been lurking in the recesses of his mind. Why were they doing this? There was nothing material at stake, nothing tangible to gain. Chasing bragging rights was chasing a will o' the wisp that led to perdition more often than not. But there was everything to lose.

In truth, he found that he had come to rue accepting the bet of three years before. The decision had been impulsive, ill-advised, and tainted with not a little machismo – things he had striven to avoid since the warrens of Torfan. That he, Garrus, and Wrex had survived was ultimately irrelevant; he should never have put them at risk in the first place. And while the apartment was a nice reward – especially now, given what had passed between himself and Jack during their stay – he now regretted the road that had brought it to him. Because he was on that road again – perhaps for different reasons, but still the same road – and what was at personal stake now was far more important to him than mere pride or money.

_Never should have mentioned it,_ Gabriel inwardly berated himself. _But no, just had to open my mouth to brag. Should never have let her goad me like that. Stupid. But maybe there's still time to fix it._

"We don't really have to do this, you know," he said. "Could just go there, say our goodbyes to everyone, then come right back. Ahern would understand. I've already beaten it once. Got nothing to prove."

"You, maybe," came the response. Jack's hands unclasped, coming to rest on her thighs, the motion making her sit straighter.

"You don't either," Gabriel said, trying to keep the growing desperation from his voice. "He knows your history. Between the dossier and what you've done since, it's more than enough."

For the first time since they had left the apartment, Jack turned to look at him. Gabriel nearly recoiled at the heat in her stare; the words accompanying that stare were tight, full of barely-suppressed fury. It was the angriest he had seen her in a while.

"We. Are. Doing. This." Each word emerged as though it had been bitten off then spat out. "You calling me chicken? Think I can't handle it? Or is this kid gloves again?"

"I know you better than that. And you sure as hell know _me_ better than that," Gabriel retorted, trying to control his own voice and not entirely succeeding. "I'm just worried about one or both of us getting hurt!"

"And what's it all for?" he went on, fear and anger mingling, feeding each other, making his voice rise. "Nothing, that's what! No money, no apartment, not even pride. It's just a goddamn pissing contest. But who for? Not me. I'm the last person you have to prove anything to."

Jack's manner went suddenly cold, dismissive, and a matching chill ran down Gabriel's spine. When she spoke, her gelid tone was worse than her anger.

"Not all about you, Shepard."

"What?"

"Clueless as ever. Doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head. "You got two choices – either we do this, or I'm asking for a ride off that station soon as we get there. Alone. And not back to the apartment either. What's it gonna be?"

"Jack-" Gabriel began, trying desperately to reach her, but afraid that he had already failed. She cut him off, voice level, almost matter-of-fact.

"What's it gonna be?" It was a choice between the possibility of losing her, and the certainty. A choice that was no choice at all.

"We're going," Gabriel replied, voice dull and dead, even as he felt a frigid knife twist in his stomach.

Jack switched on her visor, then moved across the aisle. The rest of the trip was spent in silence, but there was nothing silent or calm about Gabriel's thoughts.

* * *

Pinnacle was quiet when they arrived. Not soundless; there was too much ambient noise from all the various things that made up the station and kept it running. But there was none of the bustle that Gabriel had come to associate with the place; apart from the guards at the docking bay, it seemed as though he and Jack had the place all to themselves. Under other circumstances, it would have been fine, even pleasant, but with the gulf that had opened between them, Gabriel found himself desperately wishing that someone would pop up, say something mundane, and break the uncomfortable silence. It wasn't until they reached the final checkpoint, where Dahga worked intently at his terminal, that Gabriel got his wish.

"Sorry Shepard," the turian Guard Captain said, not looking up from his console. "Paperwork. There's more of it involved in shutting Pinnacle down than there is keeping it running. Beginning to think I shouldn't have sent the admin staff home in the first wave."

"Well you _did_ say that you'd be here till they turned off the lights," Gabriel replied, trying to keep his tone casual. Jack said nothing, leaning one shoulder against the nearest wall, her body language making her disinterest plain. Her visor was still up, hiding her eyes.

"Hah! I did, didn't I? Serves me right," Dahga said, his mandibles moving in the turian equivalent of a wry chuckle. He sobered quickly, however.

"I guess I'm just trying to put off the unpleasantness for as long as possible. I know I'm needed on Taetrus. More to the point, I _want_ to help. But-" Dahga paused, looked up briefly, then lowered his head to his screen once more.

"It's still bad, no matter which way you cut it," Gabriel said, grateful for the chance at something resembling a normal conversation, no matter how somber the topic. "Been there. I understand."

"Yeah. Thanks. There _is_ a bit of good news though. Sort of."

"Oh?"

"Vidinos made it out alive. Barely, but alive." The unexpectedness of the news made Gabriel forget his troubles, albeit all too briefly.

"Really? How?"

"He was coming back from hunting rebels in the hinterlands. The attack happened just as his shuttle landed at one of the military bases on the outskirts of the capital. Avoided the worst of the blast wave. Got hurt but lived. Always was a tough bastard."

"Huh," was all Gabriel could think of to say.

"Preliminary word is that he's coming back to Pinnacle once he recovers and the station opens up again. There's a new counter-terrorism initiative being drawn up between the Hierarchy and the Alliance, and he's going to be part of it. You might even catch him here if you come back sometime."

"Maybe," Gabriel replied, adding, "Depends on how full my dance card is." The attempt at humor sounded lame even to his ears.

"I understand," Dahga said, looking up once more. "Need to keep moving and all that. Speaking of which, we've completed the preliminary investigation into last night's incident."

For the first time since they had arrived, Jack looked interested. Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw her stop leaning against the wall and devote her full attention to the conversation. He nodded once, indicating that Dahga should continue.

"The chef is a humans-first advocate, but has no known formal ties to Cerberus. In fact as far as we can tell, he's been actively trying to be recruited – so far unsuccessfully. It's beginning to look like he was trying to score points, maybe get another chance. We've handed him over to the Alliance for further questioning and the admiral has already made arrangements for you to be informed should anything further come up."

"Thanks. Appreciate it." One concern addressed, but it was small comfort, Gabriel found.

"Now then, I don't want to seem to be shooing you away, but I will. This paperwork isn't going to finish itself. Besides," Dahga said, one claw indicating the flashing light on his console, "Javos and the admiral are ready to see you."

Still not saying anything, Jack brushed past him and headed for the simulation area. Gabriel was just about to go after her when Dahga raised his hand.

"Not that it's any of my business, Commander," he said, using Shepard's formal rank for the first time. "But are the two of you, you know, okay?"

"No," Gabriel replied, preferring to be forthright over being rude, but unwilling to offer anything beyond the bare answer.

"Ah," Dahga said, as if Gabriel's answer explained everything. "Like I said, none of my business." He looked down at his board for a moment, then looked back up at Gabriel.

"Take care of her – and yourself – in there. Good luck."

"Thanks again. See you on the other side."

Nodding at the Guard Captain, Gabriel turned and followed Jack's rapidly-disappearing form.

* * *

Gabriel caught up with her just as she passed through the second set of doors that separated Pinnacle's Operations Center – now empty except for a skeleton crew of three – from the simulation control room. He didn't reach out, didn't touch her arm, didn't say a word. He wanted to, but he knew it would lead to nothing good. When Jack was in one of her stony silences – more so than when she actively, verbally pushed him away – forcing the issue was, putting it mildly, unwise. So he didn't.

The expression on Admiral Ahern's face when he saw them come in told Gabriel that his friend had noticed the tension that existed between them. Javos, muttering to himself in typical salarian rapid-patter fashion as he bent over his console, was oblivious as usual. Ahern cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at Gabriel, looked as if he were about to ask a question, reconsidered, then spoke to the room instead.

"Welcome," he began, crossing his hands at the small of his back, his tone and manner much more serious and formal than they had been on any of the previous occasions Gabriel and Jack had visited Pinnacle. "While the two of you have been through the simulator before, the scenario you are about to enter warrants further explanation, as one of you," he said, giving a curt nod in Jack's direction that she acknowledged with the barest shrug of her shoulders, "Has never run it before."

"It is my responsibility as commander of this station," he went on, "To prepare you as best I can so that one, you will succeed, and two, do so in a manner that is as safe and problem-free as possible. As previously agreed, all safety protocols have been disabled for the duration of the scenario. This means this is as close to actual combat as it gets. The rounds are live, and you will get hurt or even die if they get through your barriers. I emphasize this because one of you," he nodded at Jack once more, "Is not wearing armor under those barriers. Recklessness is ill-advised."

"Our chief medical officer has graciously and generously agreed to stay on should his skills be needed. I hope they won't be, but better safe than sorry. Our medical bay is also state of the art. Between those two facts, your chances are a lot better than even should you get hurt. But if one of you gets unlucky enough, that still might not save you. So be careful."

At this point, the admiral stepped toward the holo-table and touched a control, causing a schematic of the strong point that was the focus of the scenario to spring to life. Gabriel had seen it before, but he looked it over again. He couldn't afford to take anything lightly; not that he ever did, but now more than ever.

It was an enclosure, walled in on three sides and partially built into the side of a hill on the fourth. A large moveable bulkhead dominated the wall opposite the hillside, serving as a door through which vehicles could enter and leave the facility; parked approximately in the center of the enclosure was one such vehicle – an early-model M29 Grizzly. Flanking the door were two heavy turrets, their fields of fire sited so as to cover the space immediately inside the bulkhead, as well as the interior of the facility.

Gabriel had always wondered about that. To his mind, they would have been better situated higher up and pointing outward, the better to cover the external approaches; as they were, they could only engage targets inside the walls – and what commander would want an enemy within a strong point? The only possible explanation he could come up with was that it was designed as a trap, which was certainly likely, as Ahern and his squad had found themselves pinned down inside the area by wave after wave of turian infantry assaults. However, the turrets had turned out to be an advantage for the Alliance troops: early on, the squad had hacked the turrets and used them to somewhat level the playing field.

The remainder of the strong point was a maze of pillars, haphazardly-stacked crates, heavy equipment, and raised platforms and walkways that ran around the inside of the exterior walls. There was one other door. Historically, it had led to a connecting corridor to some other facility; within the simulation, it was the door through which participants entered before being sealed in. All in all, there was cover, but little of it was contiguous, and most of it was unsuitable for extended shelter from incoming fire. The crates, pillars, and machinery were too easy to flank and surround, and the railings on the walkways, while solid, were low and had regular gaps through which well-aimed rounds and direct-fire grenades could be inserted; indirect fire weaponry could simply be lobbed over what cover there was. It was a killing zone, and it was nothing short of a miracle that Ahern and his squad had managed to hang on for five minutes. In fact, only two troopers had been left standing when it was over, both of them wounded; the rest of the squad was either combat-ineffective – or dead.

Gabriel completed his examination of the schematic just as Ahern finished his own verbal description. The admiral then launched into a summation of the scenario objectives.

"The goal in this scenario is simple: Survive for five minutes. This timer begins when you," he said, looking at Gabriel and Jack in turn, "Kill the turian squad guarding the Grizzly, and retrieve this data module." One hand grabbed the model of the Grizzly and pulled straight up, creating a larger copy of the vehicle in the space above the table. Ahern stabbed a finger at a point on its right side to highlight the module in question, paused to make sure they both knew where and what it was, then swept his hand from right to left, banishing the model.

"This will trigger the assault waves. Historically, we faced four waves of steadily increasing size before extraction. The scenario re-creation has a bit of randomness programmed into it – you could face as few as three waves, or as many as six within the time limit. The fewer the waves, the more troops will be in each. The more the waves, the fewer the troops. But the number of troops will always increase as the timer winds down."

"This models turian tactics of the era," Ahern went on, resting both hands on the table edge. "Whenever they found the forces thrown at the objective insufficient, they sent more and more until they either took the objective or ran out of troops. They've learned more subtlety since – thanks to us – but this will not be the case in the scenario."

"Historical accuracy extends to OpFor equipment. Turian armor and kinetic barriers are of the level of sophistication appropriate during the First Contact War. This gives you a slight advantage as your weapons are more recent and therefore somewhat more lethal against their defenses."

"Their armament is also appropriate to the period. While you might think that this also works to your advantage due to your more modern defensive strategies, there is one important difference between their weapons and yours. Unlike you, they will never run out of thermal clips, as weapons of the era had integral, non-disposable, cooling mechanisms. This might lead you to the conclusion that there will be extended lulls in enemy fire due to the need to let weapons cool down instead of simply slapping in a new clip and resuming. You would be mistaken. Turian fire discipline – which I hate to say is significantly greater than that of the average Alliance trooper, even today - means that this will _not_ be the case. Once they start shooting, 'rain' will not even begin to describe what you will be facing. Stay out of cover too long and you WILL die." Ahern stood up straight, once more crossing his hands behind his back.

"The one true advantage you have is in your biotics. Turians then and now still have little use for them – something about an inherent distrust of biotics as a skill and the ethics and motives of a biotic as a person. The turians themselves only make limited use of the small number of biotic-capable individuals available to their armed forces, usually keeping them in small biotic-only teams called Cabals, essentially another branch of their Special Forces. No such teams were present during the action recreated by this scenario. The turians might have been keeping them a secret until they needed them, might not have trusted them enough to commit them, or may have simply decided we weren't dangerous enough to warrant the effort. The fact remains: you will not be facing Cabals."

"This does not mean they take biotics lightly. They respect them and they plan for them. However, as your particular biotic skills had not yet been developed at the time of the First Contact War, the simulation will not be programmed to use present-day tactics that counter or mitigate them. Abuse this for every edge it can provide. You're going to need it. For all that I have faith in both of you, you are still trying to do with two people what I did with thirteen. And I lost eleven of them in the process."

"Which brings me to my final point." Ahern's voice rose, gaining strength and filling the room; its tone was one that brooked no argument. "If at any juncture I feel, in my experienced judgment as both a veteran combat officer and longtime commander of this training facility, that either or both of you are at risk of truly serious injury or death, I WILL pull the plug on the scenario. Complain all you want, I will not listen. I consider it my duty as a ranking officer of the Alliance, but more importantly, as a friend. I _will_ keep you both safe, even if it means either or both of you end up hating me. Is that clear?"

Gabriel and Jack nodded their assent, the latter a little more reluctantly.

"Let's get you prepped then," Ahern finished, turning around to lead them toward the simulator itself.

* * *

It turned out that Ahern wasn't _quite_ finished with them, or at least he wasn't quite finished with Gabriel anyway. He was about to enter the simulation ready area with Jack when the admiral motioned him over.

"Shepard? A moment, if you will. I won't keep him long, Jack," he said, nodding in her direction. "Hope you don't mind."

Jack just shrugged and went into the ready area. For his part Gabriel doffed his helmet, which he had already put on, and gave Ahern a level expression.

"Admiral?"

"Are the two of you all right?" Ahern asked, echoing Dahga's earlier question.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yes. Not that the two of you were exactly swapping tongues in public at every opportunity, but you're acting like a couple of cold-warring exes now. I've been around the block more than my fair share – I can tell."

"No. No we're not," Gabriel admitted. Ahern's eyebrows rose at the answer and he took a deep breath.

"I'm suddenly of a mind to stop this even before it gets started. Dammit, you know you shouldn't be going into combat without your head screwed on straight."

"We don't always get a choice in the matter. And _you_ know that. Sir."

"Don't you goddamn 'sir' me, Shepard. We passed that point three years ago. So what happened? Was it her way or the highway?"

"With all due respect, that's none of your business. We'll handle it," Gabriel spoke the words, though he was nowhere near as certain as he sounded.

"Not if you're not on the same page, you won't."

"I'm a professional. And contrary to all appearances, Jack is too. You've seen her record, know what she's done. We may not be seeing eye to eye right now, but that's out here, not in combat."

"Can the bullshit," Ahern snapped, his hand moving from left to right in a curt chopping motion. "'Out here,' five minutes is nothing. In there, where things can and will turn to shit in an instant, with the fucking safeties off no less, it's a fucking lifetime. And it's gonna be a a nasty fucking short lifetime if you don't have each others' backs. Or have you forgotten what happened last time, when you had two people with you instead of one?"

"No I haven't," Gabriel replied, struggling to keep his voice under control. "But this time is different. Gear's not the same. I'm not the same. And her? She's damn good. We can handle it," he repeated.

"Jesus H. Christ on a fucking raft. Has she really got you that pussywhipped? Is she really that good a lay?"

"That's uncalled for," Gabriel said, finally letting the anger enter his voice, though much of that anger was for himself.

"Maybe so, but this sort of crap is why the Alliance military has rules against fraternization."

"She isn't Alliance military, admiral. And neither am I, remember?"

"Oh I remember. But it causes the same goddamn problems whether the people involved are military or not. So I hope for both your sakes that you _can_ 'handle it.' I'm not going to insult you by making the scenario easier or turning the safeties on, but I meant what I said earlier. The second I smell things going to pot, the scenario is _over_. 'Cause I sure as HELL am not going to be explaining to the Alliance how I let Commander Shepard die on my watch. We clear on this?"

Any vestige of camaraderie in Ahern's voice and manner was gone; in its place there was only the steely authority of Pinnacle Station's commanding officer. Gabriel met it with cold formality, although inwardly he hoped he hadn't just cost himself a friend.

"Crystal, admiral."

"Then get going. The sooner you're done, the sooner you can get it out of your systems and take your goddamn personal problems off my station."

"And Commander?" Ahern added, as Gabriel turned to go, "The two of you better not come out of there in body bags. Or I'll bring you back to life myself just so I can kill you again."

* * *

Gabriel kept his helmet cradled by his side as he entered the ready room. Jack was busy pulling spare thermal clips from the supply lockers and fitting them into every open spot on her gear, including an LBE harness she had apparently found in another locker. Her visor was off and she didn't look up until he drew near.

"So how are we playing this?" she asked, tone brisk, businesslike. Despite the lack of anything resembling warmth, the fact that she was even talking to him was encouraging. Gabriel laid his helmet on the arming bench, using the short interval to marshal his thoughts.

"Before we get to that," he finally said, "We need to be clear on one thing."

"You don't say," Jack replied, crossing her arms.

"We don't have time to get into why you're mad at me," Gabriel said, keeping his own voice to-the-point. "We'll talk about that after. But I need to know you won't buck me in there. There's enough to worry about as is."

"It's a fight, you're the boss," Jack said, shrugging. "Unless you wanna whine and hide, I'm following your lead."

The answer eased Gabriel's mind, if not completely, then considerably. He used his omni-tool to pull up a smaller version of the schematic Ahern had used during the briefing.

"All right. The way we did this three years ago is that Garrus, Wrex, and I turtled up here." Gabriel's finger pointed to a pile of crates in front of the large vehicle door. "Garrus kept the enemy pinned with his rifle while Wrex and I provided fire support and charged groups that got too close. The turrets here, and here," he went on, indicating two pedestal-mounted guns set on the elevated walkways forward and to either side of the door, "Took care of the rest. It wasn't as easy as I make it sound."

"Problem is, we can't do that today. Not only are we a squaddie short, but neither of us is the marksman Garrus is. We are, however, more mobile, individually and as a pair, than Wrex and I were, and we can hit harder, with weapons and especially with biotics. We also have better barriers and I have better armor. We're going to need to play to those strengths."

"So this is the way it's going to go: First thing we need to do is take out the guard squad around the Grizzly." Gabriel tapped his omni-tool, and half a dozen lights appeared around the vehicle in the center of the enclosure. "They move around so this is only an approximation. But each guard always keeps at least one other trooper in his field of vision, and is in constant contact with all the others. So the minute we hit one, we're getting the other five in short order."

"But not the waves," Jack interrupted.

"No."

"Sorta stupid that they won't."

"That's how it happened and that's how the scenario does it. Try and be grateful. I am."

"Whatever."

"Anyway, the scenario timer doesn't start until we pull the module, so we don't need to rush this too much - we can conserve energy and clips. Also, I'm thinking we can split up for this part. Not because it's quicker, but because if we hit them from two directions at once, it'll confuse and split the response. But this is the only time during the scenario that we're flying solo. Once the shit hits the fan, I want us joined at the hip."

"You would," Jack said, voice derisive. Gabriel ignored the comment.

"Once we take out the guards, we grab some bars and juice, get our energy back. Then we hack the turrets so they can start firing as soon as the waves spawn. Don't need to hack them for real – it's just a timer."

"The turrets going to do all the work? No fun if they do."

"No. For one thing, they were originally designed to hit vehicle-sized targets – hard-hitting but low fire rate. The hack simulates the kludge job Ahern's squad did on them so they would engage infantry. For another, the clutter and the Grizzly break up their fields of fire something fierce – can't just sweep the entire area. Lastly, the hack made their control and targeting protocols a bit wonky, so there's a chance that they'll just stop working. Didn't happen to Ahern, but it did happen to us. Probably won't have the chance or the time to hack them again if that happens. All in all, we just need to stay out of their way and let them do what they can. They'll help, but we can't rely on them."

"Good."

"When we're done with the turrets, we meet back up at the Grizzly to pull the module. That's when all hell breaks loose."

"My favorite thing." Again, Gabriel let the interruption pass without comment.

"We'll only engage groups we can put down fast. Anything bigger, we try to avoid. Reinforcements will just crawl up our asses and cut us apart if we get hung up on any one group. Same thing if we try to hunker down and turtle. So we're going to stay on the move for the whole five minutes – kill what we can then head for another section of the compound."

"Didn't want to just hole up anyway, so I'm game."

"Going to burn a lot of energy though. So we get a chance, we eat. The other fly in the ointment is that the enemy waves spawn in random locations. We could end up pincered or even surrounded. That happens, we're going to need to break through pronto. About the only good thing is that they'll never spawn at our current location, so we'll have a few seconds before they vector in on us. Might even be enough for us to get away."

"What about the Grizzly?" Jack asked, pointing at the vehicle.

"Inoperable. Nothing works. All it is is cover. There's one more point about enemy spawns. They're random except for the one behind this door," Gabriel indicated the vehicle entrance. "A pair of troopers come in from here approximately every thirty seconds unless we hit either of these controls and close it." He highlighted two panels set on each side.

"Once those controls are activated twice in total, they stop coming in. The reason I only mentioned this now is that it doesn't really affect our tactics today. Three years ago, we had to keep watching our six so we didn't get blindsided. Since we'll be moving, odds are we're not going to be near the door when stuff spawns, so it's less of an issue. That said, if we get a chance, we're going to close that door. That about covers things. Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Consumables check, then. Bars and juice?" Gabriel asked, banishing the schematic so he could check his harness as well as his armor's internal fluid reservoirs.

"Full up," Jack replied, slapping at her own vest and belt to indicate the bars, then at the lightly-armored camel pack locked next to her assault rifle.

"Thermal clips?" Gabriel took extras from the equipment lockers and filled every spare compartment before checking the counter on his omni-tool and following it up with a visual count of the clips themselves.

"Pulled a shitload of spares before you came in," Jack said, tugging on the LBE she had fitted over her vest.

"Medi-gel?" Again Gabriel consulted his omni-tool while Jack inspected the injectors in her harness. She nodded in confirmation.

"Weapons check." Over the next few minutes, they busied themselves running diagnostics and physical inspections on their respective arsenals. Knowing what they would be facing, Gabriel had traded in his customary Shuriken for a fully-automatic Tempest, and had added a scoped version of Jack's Carnifex to his Claymore. He might not be the marksman Garrus was, but he could still place shots in a group that would comfortably fit into a turian's faceplate at fifteen meters. The scope was there to help him do that at twice the range if necessary. One never knew.

He finished before Jack since she was, after all carrying more guns. Apart from her Carnifex and Locust, which she had already checked over, she had an Eviscerator slung across the small of her back. The weapon which seemed to have occupied the lion's share of her time, however, was her pulse rifle. Its fire rate was tremendous for all that its heat generation was next to minimal, but it had been designed for geth, who had the processing capacity to operate the weapon with ease. Humans had to work harder both at firing and maintaining the weapon, but Gabriel knew Jack had accepted that in exchange for the veritable torrent of fire it could put out. Gabriel waited until she nodded at him once more.

"Last one. Gear check. You first," Gabriel said. Wordlessly, Jack stepped forward so Gabriel could inspect connectors, fittings, and buckles. He paid special attention to the connectors between her barrier implants and harness; it was a while before he pronounced himself fully satisfied. He ran a quick but thorough diagnostic with his omni-tool as a final measure.

"No issues. You're set."

He stepped back to give Jack room. Still not saying anything, she picked up his helmet and handed it to him; Gabriel put the helmet on and sealed it, keeping the visor up for the moment. Jack's hands moved deftly across his armor, checking and double-checking seals, attachment clamps, and equipment pouches before using her ear-mounted interface to run her own diagnostics on his implants and armor systems. She straightened, slapping him on the shoulder.

"No issues," she parroted, voice faintly mocking, "All set."

Gabriel nodded, feeling his mouth go dry as the enormity of what was going to happen truly sank in. Not trusting his voice, he settled for closing and locking his visor, running a final diagnostic as his HUD came online. In front of him, Jack activated her visor. The amber field sprang up, covering her eyes, and Gabriel felt a brief pang shoot through him. He had to clear his throat and take a sip of juice before he trusted himself to open a channel to the control room.

"Control? Ready to begin the scenario."

"Control acknowledges," Javos replied. "Scenario will begin when you enter the simulation area. Good luck, Commander."

"Give 'em hell you two." There was a trace of anger in Ahern's words, but they sounded sincere all the same. Maybe Gabriel hadn't lost a friend after all.

"Thanks. We will. Shepard out."

**~ End Day 6, Part 1 (to be continued) ~**

* * *

_Author's Notes: Since you've made it this far, I'll go ahead and assume that you're interested in what I have to say outside the scope of the narrative itself. As those of you who have read the status updates know, a death in the family sapped my will to write last year. While that particular crisis is not yet over - mostly due to corrupt bureaucracies and their red tape, but also for reasons I won't get into here - I feel that I've managed to reach a point where I can begin writing again (which manifested as my muse nagging me to get back in the saddle). My first foray back into the writing waters is an as-yet incomplete Jack/FShep story called "In Her Eyes," the first two (short) installments of which are right here on FFN (and yes that's a slightly-ashamed plug). It was (and is) planned as an experiment, both to try and get my hand back into writing and also to go outside my comfort zone. I know Jack/FShep is not exactly the soup du jour for everyone, which is certainly fine. But thought I'd mention it just in case anyone was interested._

_The second foray is the story portion you've just finished reading: the first part of the penultimate chapter of Things Worth Keeping. I am perfectly aware that ending this portion where I have is going to induce the reader equivalent of blue-ball, but just like Day 5, it was running on long enough to make me decide to break it into manageable portions (that still run a damn sight long even so). More importantly, the second part is rather heavy emotion-lading-wise and to be brutally frank, I'm struggling mightily with it, a situation made more difficult by how atrophied my literary muscles are. In fact, I'm running scared right now that this first part is going to highlight that deterioration. In the end, however, that'll be up to you, the readers._ All I ask is that you be honest - for me, it's more important than being kind._ In any event, I decided to release because it's been more than long enough between installments and I thought that TWK's readership deserved to get something for their dedication and patience. I simply hope that I do not disappoint._

_Now if you will continue to indulge me for a bit longer, some other notes about future projects (a precursor to this was contained in the 03.15.2012 update which has since been deleted):  
_

_Apart from the abovementioned Jack/FShep project and the associated bridge piece (which allows both my Shepards and their respective versions of Jack to meet), I already have notes and titles for several sequels to TWK. These will be predominantly one-shot affairs, covering the gap between ME2 and ME3, and extending into the latter game to tackle events I want to highlight from that title. At the very least, this means a story tied to Grissom, but there's certainly room for a lot more. There will also be a story containing my take on the notorious "endings" and their aftermath (the canon versions of which I absolutely despise); I will warn folks that my current plans for this are considerably darker than my initial outlines, but while it may not be unmitigated "unicorns and rainbows," I feel it's better than what we did get (although your mileage may vary, of course). All of these will be added on to this story, placing them under the TWK banner; that means that the 8 days covering their stay on Intai'sei and its immediate aftermath are now called "The Intai'sei Arc," with all the follow-ons receiving subheadings of their own. I decided to do things this way to keep my FFN page relatively simple looking and not have a bunch of links cluttering it up. To summarize, there will be three groupings:  
_

_1) Things Worth Keeping - Jack/Gabriel Shepard, comprising the Intai'sei Arc and assorted follow-ons. These include "Departure" (dealing with the events immediately before and immediately after ME2's Arrival DLC, which I only managed to play this year); "In More than Anger" (dealing with the events surrounding the Grissom Academy mission in ME3); and "Paths Unwillingly Trodden" (my aforementioned take on the ME3 ending and its aftermath).  
_

_2) In Her Eyes - Jack/Maya Shepard, comprising the main arc (which does not yet have a name as it's still very early in its development) and assorted follow-ons.  
_

_3) Through a Relay Darkly - the bridging story between the two universes, kept separate since it takes place outside either one.  
_

_In closing, I would once more like to thank all TWK's readers both old and new, for their patience and for spending their valuable time to read this story. As I've said before, I bid all of you welcome and hope that you enjoy your stay. Your attention, and any reviews or critiques, are very much appreciated. I apologize for the long delay and hope to not be away for so long in future.  
_

_P.S. You'll notice the date at the top of the page before the story proper begins. Your eyes do not deceive. It took me that long to write this part, for which I can only offer, once more, my humble apology.  
_


	8. Day 6: Pinnacle Freefall Part 2 of 2

**Things Worth Keeping**

A Mass Effect 2+ Story in Seven-Odd Parts by Urdaniel

**Disclaimer: B****ioware/EA owns all applicable characters and trademarks (e.g., names). I make no claims of ownership and certainly make no profit.**_  
_

_ Rated M for language and the occasional smidgen of innuendo. Critiques and comments are welcome; flames will be allowed to fizzle out and trolls will want to find another spot unless they want to go hungry.  
_

_Quick note before you begin: I've taken dramatic license with the precise details of Ahern's scenario, so it won't be exactly as folks remember from ME. Given that license, please don't try to quibble with the time indices - when all is said and done, they move at the speed of plot, even though I tried to keep them somewhat close to reality. Once more, I'd like to thank everyone who's taken the time to read and/or comment and direct anyone who's interested to the author notes at the end of this installment. And as always, a heartfelt shout-out to the folks on the BSN Jack forums for sharing their insight and being an inspiration._

[2012.04.20]

Day 6: Pinnacle Freefall (Part 2 of 2)

Things went wrong from the start. There were eight turians in the guard squad, not six, and they were clumped in two groups of four on either side of the Grizzly instead of strung out along the perimeter. Gabriel and Jack were forced to change the plan. Instead of splitting up, they stuck together and hit the nearer group first, taking out the four turians literally an instant before the remainder rounded the Grizzly and opened fire. In the end he and Jack suffered little more than barrier damage, but the short, brutal encounter forced them to expend more energy and clips than he would have liked.

As they took a break, Gabriel briefly considered calling the control room to ask about the change before deciding against it. The scenario had always been somewhat random, and eight troopers was still within the typical size range for a turian squad. Besides, he didn't want to give either Ahern or Jack the impression that he was bothered by a mere two extra guards. He finished off a bar, washing it down with a healthy slug of juice, and shoved the wrapper into the pouch from which he had taken the bar. He looked over at Jack.

"Ready?"

Jack nodded and dropped the wrapper of her bar on the ground before taking off at a jog for her turret. Shaking his head, Gabriel picked up the discarded foil and stowed it as he set off for his own gun. He arrived a few seconds after Jack signaled ready over their private channel; raising his omni-tool to the simulated control interface, he called out:

"Set? Beginning hack. Thirty seconds."

"Copy," came Jack's response. "Thirty seconds here."

The hack took only thirty seconds, but to Gabriel it felt a lot longer. It felt even longer when, twenty-five seconds in, shots spanged into the pedestal on which the turret was mounted. Gabriel dropped behind the low railing, trying not to interrupt the hack.

"What the fuck?" Jack's voice burst over the comm.

"They're spawning," Gabriel replied, his voice going calm as he slipped into a combat mindset. Even so, a little voice in the back of his head noted: _Not supposed to happen_. "You all right?"

"Nothing near me. Are _you_ okay?" He could hear the concern in her voice. It warmed him, but he pushed the feeling aside. _Concentrate._

"They missed. Hack complete," he said, even as he heard both his and Jack's turrets open up, the steady _whump! whump! whump!_ music to his ears. "Get to the Grizzly and pull the module. I'll see you there. If you get forced away from it, I'll catch up."

"What the fuck for? They're already shooting!"

"The timer hasn't started," he explained matter-of-factly, even as he unfolded the Carnifex and popped up from behind the railing. Sighting through the scope, he squeezed off six shots, managing to send four into a couple of turians descending one of the ramps at the far end of the enclosure before he dropped back behind cover. The trailing pair continued their advance despite the "death" of their comrades. _Was kind of hoping they'd modeled morale more accurately by now_, Gabriel thought to himself as he ejected the pistol's thermal clip and inserted another. _Looks like they don't disappear in a flash of light anymore, though._

"Shit! This is fucked up, Shepard." He could hear Jack breathing slightly harder as she ran for the Grizzly.

"Agreed," he said, unfolding a sensor stalk from his omni-tool and poking it up over the railing. A turian fireteam spawned at the top of the ramp and advanced, close on the heels of the one whose numbers he had reduced by half. "You have incoming. Two then four close behind."

"Got it. Module's been pulled." Just then, the timer flashed onto his HUD and began counting down.

**Evac in 00:05:00:00**

"You coming?"

"Need to keep them off you. Get clear. Grenades inbound."

"Shepard-"

Gabriel cut her off.

"I'll. Catch. Up. Get clear. I'll be fine. Incoming."

He plucked two offensive grenades from his belt and arced them over the railing, applying a touch of biotic english as he did so. The muffled sequential _crack!_ of the detonations brought a slight smile to his face. He popped up again; there was only one turian still "alive," crouching behind a crate, helmet poking around the corner. Gabriel gave him a lesson in the proper use of cover, sending two rounds into the spot where a human temple would be.

**Evac in 00:04:35:00**

Gabriel's HUD showed him that Jack had taken temporary shelter behind the stack of crates Garrus had used three years before. She was using shockwaves to knock out of cover the troopers trying to circle around the Grizzly's right side, then firing off short bursts from her pulse rifle to pick them out of the air like so many clay pigeons. Though she never stayed out of cover for very long, her barrier still sparked from enemy shots. It held, however. All told, she looked to have already taken out an entire squad. Gabriel grinned behind his visor.

Just as Jack seemed about to move, he noticed the vehicle door behind her opening. Quickly stowing the Carnifex, Gabriel pulled the Claymore from the small of his back. He was charging the pair of turians emerging from the door before the single word even left his mouth:

"Door!"

Jack turned, hands glowing, but Gabriel had already flattened the troopers. He triggered the Claymore. The massive shotgun bucked in his hands, sending a load of shot into the chestplate of one, turning it into a shattered, shredded mass of ceramics and composites. Not bothering to eject the thermal clip, Gabriel shifted his grip, freeing up his right hand. Sheathing it in a mass-effect field, he punched the other trooper's face guard, shattering it.

"Forgot some," Jack said, as two biotic projectiles curved neatly around Gabriel to throw another pair of troopers into opposite sides of the entryway. He felt the impact reverberate through the floor beneath his feet.

"Quit fucking grandstanding," she added, slapping the door control. "Gotta move."

**Evac in 00:03:40:00**

Gabriel risked a sideways glance as he and Jack pounded up a ramp onto one of the elevated walkways that ran around the interior perimeter. She was using mass-effect fields to augment her movement, the aura enveloping her in a blue-black glow that should have made her an easy target, but didn't. Bright streaks of light from hard-driven rounds ionizing the thin air reached out for her but missed, striking harmlessly against the floor and the boxes that littered it.

Jack ducked behind some crates – pausing only for a moment to orient herself – then spun and began running again, a shockwave screaming from her right hand to topple a group of enemies that had spawned in their path, the Carnifex in her left roaring as she fired it on the move, all in a single sequence of fluid motion. It was a dance of lethal, terrible, beauty, and Gabriel's breath caught momentarily in his throat. He had always found her beautiful; but in motion, and in her element as she was now, she was stunning. He almost forgot where he was. Almost.

It was all he could do to keep up, despite his armor's powered assists. He had unlimbered his Tempest, firing long bursts more for suppression fire than in the hope of actually hitting anything. When he did, it was due more to the single-mindedness of the opposition – often advancing in the open despite the availability of cover – than any marksmanship on his part. He changed thermal clips on the run as enemy fire spattered his barrier, making it shimmer.

They had reached the raised platform on the side of the enclosure opposite the door. Between the railings and several boxes, there was just enough cover for them to crouch side by side and catch their breath for a moment.

"Clips?" Gabriel asked, even as he tore the wrapper off an energy bar and wolfed it down, following it with several swallows of juice.

"Under half," Jack replied, around a mouthful of her own. She was nearly through a bar and looked about ready to start on a second.

"A little over half here. I'll try to keep their heads down. Keep eating."

Gabriel stowed the Tempest and quickly used the sensor stalk before lobbing the last of his grenades over the barricade. Once he heard them go off, he drew the Carnifex again and popped up. The storm of fire that met him was startling; the grenades should have reduced enemy numbers more than the incoming shots implied. His barrier flared and shattered, spoiling his aim, although he retained enough composure to expend the clip. When he dropped back behind the crates, the armor on his shoulders and arms was scored by repeated impacts, and his helmet had taken a glancing blow along one side that made his ears ring briefly.

"I'm fine," he told Jack, before she could say anything. "Barrier's down though. Should come back up soon."

She nodded, finishing her bar and taking up her pulse rifle. Gabriel's barrier came up a second later; not a moment too soon as it turned out. A turian fireteam came around the corner to their left and he and Jack were off and running again.

**Evac in 00:02:10:00**

The turret Gabriel had activated at the beginning of the scenario loomed ahead of them as he and Jack paused, each of them behind a pillar that broke up the smooth progression of the walkway. He looked over at her and she looked back; she was breathing hard and was sweating, but she was smiling. He smiled himself, even though his visor hid it and even though he was fairly certain that her smile wasn't for him, but because she was doing one of the things she enjoyed the most.

Beeping ominously, a grenade sailed lazily over the railing and rolled to a stop almost exactly between them.

They reacted as one, enclosing the grenade in a biotic grip and hurling it back over the railing, straight back at the trooper that had launched it. Individually, they might have placed the return throw exactly on target; collectively they applied too much force, leaving the grenade to explode against the opposite wall. Gabriel shrugged as a disgusted expression crossed Jack's face.

"Mine," she growled, and leaned briefly around her pillar while releasing a long tearing burst from her pulse rifle. Gabriel's extended sensor probe told him the burst had stitched a neat line from the turian soldier's crotch to his crown. The trooper collapsed in a heap.

"Let's go," she said, moving from the pillar to the ramp leading down, making sure to stay in the shadow of the turret. Gabriel followed.

**Evac in 00:01:30:00**

They found themselves back at the cluster of equipment crates where Jack had taken shelter at the beginning of the scenario. The inconsistent programming of the opposition – sometimes the fireteams would behave almost realistically, while at other times they would exhibit the mindless swarming behavior of three years prior – had worked in their favor this time. His and Jack's near-constant movement had strung out the enemy fireteams as they tried to pursue; the soldiers had gotten held up on corners and cover as they tried to take the most direct path toward their targets. Additionally, the turrets, both of which still functioned, had been and still were exacting a toll on the enemy's numbers. Once more, he and Jack had a somewhat longer window in which to rest. Or should have had, anyway. But it wasn't to be.

"Door!" This time it was Jack who called out the warning. The high-pitched chirp of her pulse rifle sounded in a continuous stream as she filled the thermal clip to capacity with waste heat. Two of the four troopers who had emerged from behind the door crumpled as she raked her fire across them. Gabriel had the Tempest out and shooting; so intent was he on dropping the remaining two troopers that he almost missed the additional fireteam that spawned behind the ones at which he was firing. _Not supposed to happen_, he thought to himself again, even as he charged.

When he came out of it, he saw that his charge had flattened the two turians from the initial spawn but had not quite reached the second group, who were already raising their weapons. Nothing in Gabriel's arsenal could take them out in time to prevent the massed fire from overwhelming his and Jack's barriers and seriously injuring, if not killing, one or both of them. None of his guns could, anyway.

Time slowed and Gabriel's instincts took over. He dropped the Tempest and knelt, smashing his right fist against the ground.

The somatic trigger poured energy into his barrier implants even as they caused the barrier itself to contract skin-tight. Then they released all that stored energy in a blinding flare of blue-black light and a tremendous explosion that threw the oncoming turians against the door pillars and the edges of the walkway. They slid down the walls, to lie bonelessly on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw Jack's barrier blaze in sympathy; although it stayed up, she was forced to brace herself against the boxes to avoid being knocked down herself.

The turians still struggling to rise were tossed into the air. With perfect timing, Jack threw them – one with each hand – into the walkway as well. Her grin was savage, more rictus than smile, and she released a shockwave that piled the bodies in a heap against the nearest wall. Gabriel felt a feral smile of his own contort his lips under the helmet, just as the notification came:

**Evac in 00:00:00:00**

And everything went quiet. As the old cliché went, the silence was deafening, seeming louder than the cacophony of battle that had preceded it. Gabriel got into cover anyway, scanning his HUD for any signs of movement, but apart from himself and Jack, nothing stirred inside the compound.

"I'm showing scenario's over," he said to Jack, trying not to sound too elated. "Confirm timer please."

"Yeah, yeah. It's over," she said; despite the derision in her voice, she looked relieved. Gabriel stood and removed his helmet, laying it on the boxes they had been sheltering behind.

"We made it."

"'Course we did," Jack replied; she had turned off her visor, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. Gabriel let her rest. Glancing at his omni-tool, he studied the glowing numbers, almost not daring to believe what they said. But their message was plain:

**Evac in 00:00:00:00**

** Scenario Duration 00:09:24:00**

** Total Elapsed Time 00:11:15:00**

Gabriel let out a sigh laden with all the tension and anxiety he had carried since the shuttle ride to Pinnacle. It was over. They had beaten the scenario. And they had come out in far, far better shape than he had ever dared hope. It had seemed easier than it had been three years ago, almost too easy, but he didn't care. He'd take it.

He bent over and touched Jack lightly on the shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and the slightly frightened look she always had on awakening filled them before she saw him standing there. Gabriel turned his hand palm-up, offering it to her. She took it and he helped her to her feet, the movement bringing their faces into close proximity.

Jack's eyes were no longer faintly fearful; instead they were bright, alive - burning with a wild, joyous excitement that was almost disconcerting in its intensity. Her lips were slightly parted in a not-quite-smile and she was breathing hard, a thin sheen of perspiration covering her skin. She seemed to glow in the harsh lighting of the simulator, a glow that had nothing to do with her biotics. It was then that Gabriel remembered what she had told him on Pragia, of how she still got "warm feelings" - as she termed them – during a fight. If she had been stunning in the midst of combat, at that moment she was positively gorgeous.

Completely on impulse, Gabriel leaned in and kissed her full on the lips, not at all caring whether or not she still was mad at him.

He had his own eyes closed, so he could only imagine that hers widened as their lips touched. But he felt her stiffen briefly before she melted into the contact, her hands interlacing behind his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss even as his arms twined around her waist. Their tongues dueled all-too-briefly before she disengaged, placing her hands on his shoulders and gently, reluctantly, but firmly pushing him away.

"Goddamn perv." Her voice was husky, soft, faintly scolding, yet happy. "Taking advantage of a girl like that. Not the place or the time. Should know that better than anyone."

"Sorry," Gabriel replied, his own voice pitched low. "Just felt like it."

"Still gonna feel like that later?" Jack's voice remained soft, but mischief danced in her gaze.

"Yes," he said, not taking his eyes off of hers.

"Gonna hold you to that."

"Does that mean you're not at mad at me anymore?"

"Dream on," she said, her old acerbity returning for an instant before she admitted, "Not as much."

"I'll take it."

"Guess we better get out of here."

"Guess we better," Gabriel agreed.

He crouched, picking up the Tempest from where he had dropped it during the fight and locking it into place on his left hip. He stood up, turning to face Jack, and saw a full squad of turian soldiers – two entire fireteams – spawn behind her.

She was watching him expectantly, hands on her hips, a finger tapping out a staccato beat against her jeans. He saw it all so clearly as his combat mindset returned, dilating time, slowing everything. Yet there was no time, as the turians began raising their weapons, no time for anything – except what he did next.

He charged, slamming his fist into the ground almost before the jump ended. The nova blazed, and three of the the turians dropped. _Not enough_, came the thought, but he paid it no heed; he was already charging again, punching the ground again, madly laying about with his fists, elbows, anything he could throw at them. Despair picked at the edges of his consciousness; if the enemies kept spawning, nothing either of them could do would let them survive more than a few minutes. And they kept coming.

It happened after the third nova, just as Gabriel felt like he had caught his second wind, just as he spotted Jack firing shockwaves and throwing troopers around like rag dolls, just as he thought they might make it through this. He had already picked his next group of targets when he found himself flying through the air. His last, incongruous thought, even as the world went dark, was:

_That's not supposed to happen. I haven't charged yet._

* * *

Gabriel swam up from the depths of unconsciousness, the world gradually growing lighter as he did. It was an experience unwantedly similar to the time he had awoken after his death in the skies of Alchera. This time, however, he wasn't alone.

Admiral Tadius Ahern and Guard Captain Dahga stood to one side, their faces somber. Opposite them stood a young man, seemingly much too young for the gravity of his stare, the seriousness of his mien. He wore the uniform of the Alliance Medical Corps with the surname "Gosengfiao" stenciled on the nametag, the flashes indicating a rank commensurate with the position of chief medical officer of a major facility. Relief spread visibly over Ahern and Dahga's faces as Gabriel raised his head, fighting off the wave of dizziness and nausea that attended the movement; the doctor's grim expression eased somewhat, but no more than that. Despite being newly-awakened, Gabriel managed to speak first.

"Jack." His throat seemed as though it were full of sand. He coughed, tried to clear it, found only partial success.

"Jack," he repeated, grinding out the words through his uncooperative vocal chords. "Is she-" he began, dreading the answer.

"She's fine, Commander." The doctor's baritone voice was rounded, full, with a resonance completely at odds with his spare frame. "Moderate exhaustion, a few lacerations, but not at all serious. You fared worse, but considering the potential severity of the type of injuries you suffered, you're in surprisingly good shape."

"Turret got you," Ahern said, finally speaking up. "Glancing hit, otherwise we wouldn't be talking. Still lost your barrier, got your armor smashed all to hell. Looked really fucking ugly when we pulled you out of there."

"The primary source of your injuries was due to blunt trauma from the mass-effect fields simulating the explosion of the turret projectile," Doctor Gosengfiao said, taking up where Ahern had left off. "But you also suffered lacerations from the shrapnel produced by armor fragments and pieces of attached equipment-"

"At least you were winchester on the grenades," Ahern interrupted. "That would _really_ have been ugly. But damn if Cerberus didn't rebuild you right. If it wasn't for that mesh in your hide-"

"Subdermal armor weave," the doctor interrupted in turn. "And quite a sophisticated form of it at that. I've only ever heard rumors about similar implants, most of them associated with alleged 'black' programs. As for the rest of you," he went on, "I don't know if even my rank and position would clear me to examine, let alone treat you, under normal circumstances."

"In any event, the subdermal weave combined with your other...enhancements prevented you from suffering worse injury. Your armor considerably mitigated the force of the explosion and the weave absorbed the remainder. It also stopped the shrapnel from penetrating, so while you have quite the extensive set of lacerations, they are shallow. The main area of concern was the potential for cranial and spinal injuries since you weren't wearing your helmet at the time."

"Am I all right or not?" Gabriel demanded, irritation shading over into anger at the continued discussion of things that seemed utterly trivial. Jack was all right, he was alive. That was all that mattered.

"You have a mild concussion, extensive bruising, and the aforementioned lacerations, none of which is life-threatening, especially in light of your unique physiology. I suppose that would qualify as being 'all right.'"

"All I need to know. Where's Jack?"

"She's right outside, Commander." It was Dahga who replied this time, and he might have gone on speaking had Ahern not interrupted him.

"Damnedest thing I ever saw, Shepard," he said, voice faintly awed. "When you went down, she threw everything out of her way and ran over to you. Then she lifted you with her biotics, put up this bubble, and tried to punch a hole in the goddamn wall. That was about when we managed to shut the simulator down. Good thing too – that wall she was punching was an exterior bulkhead. Would have opened the place to vacuum." Ahern shook his head before continuing.

"When we finally got the door open, she looked ready to kill the lot of us till she spotted the doc with his trauma gear. Then she looked like she'd kill us if we didn't get a move on. After we got you to sickbay, she didn't leave your side the whole time. Not till it looked like you were waking up, anyway. Then she bolted like her ass was on fire. Damnedest thing," he repeated.

"Can I see her?" Gabriel insisted.

"Nothing stopping you. Except maybe getting dressed first. Your armor's trashed, so we got some Alliance blues in your approximate size. Didn't think you'd mind. It's in the locker over there." The admiral pointed to the cabinet next to the bed. "Once you've met up with Jack, I'll need to talk to the two of you before you leave. I'll see you then."

Ahern turned and walked off. Dahga nodded once at Gabriel then followed.

"Commander," Doctor Gosengfiao said, "I know you're anxious to get going, but I'd just like to recommend that you take it easy for a day or so. The majority of your injuries are superficial, but even with your implants you'll take time to heal. Not too long, and the injuries will be primarily an inconvenience during that time, but rest will certainly accelerate the process."

"Thanks Doctor. I'm sorry if I was being short-"

"It's nothing. I saw the way she looked at you. If you reciprocate even half of that-" The doctor shrugged, inclined his head, then walked to his desk on the other side of his room, leaving Gabriel feeling faintly embarrassed.

He covered it up by easing himself out of bed, grimacing as the pain cut through the analgesic properties of the medi-gel. Drawing shut the curtain around the bed, he began dressing, noting in the process the bruises and already-healing wounds that covered much of his skin. _I look like a patchwork quilt_, he thought to himself, unpleasantly reminded of how he had looked when he had woken up on Lazarus Station. The Alliance duty uniform didn't fit perfectly, but it was familiar, even comfortable; he hadn't realized how much he had missed wearing it. That done, he went to find Jack.

She was sitting outside in the lounge, arms on knees, a cup of what looked like juice cradled untouched between her hands. When she heard Gabriel's footsteps she looked up, anger warring with relief on her face; as was so often the case, anger won out. But Gabriel managed to speak before she did.

"I'm glad you're all right."

At his words, Jack froze, mouth working slightly. Her hand quivered, and for a moment Gabriel thought she might throw the cup – not at him, but simply throw it at something. Instead, she settled for putting it down on the low table in front of her, spilling only a little of the liquid in the process. In a moment of irrationality, he wished she would hug him – but she would never do such a thing in a public place, even though they were alone. He'd have to do it himself, and given that he'd already cheated death – or at least serious injury – once that day, it might be unwise to tempt the fates further.

"You look like hell," she finally said, voice derisive as she looked him up and down. Her brow wrinkled as she took in the Alliance uniform. "Never liked those duds, but at least you're not in a Cerberus uniform."

"Good thing I don't _feel_ like hell," he replied. "And the doc says I should be fine. Just need to take it easy for a bit."

"So we can leave?"

"Soon as we talk to Ahern. Probably going to debrief us."

"What're we waiting for then?" she asked, getting up from the chair. "Let's go."

* * *

The walk to Ahern's office took less than five minutes. When they entered after knocking, they found the admiral sitting behind his desk, alternating between studying the monitor and speaking to someone – from the sound of it, Javos – on the comm, his terse questions leaving his lips like bullets from a gun. He motioned them to sit as he finished the conversation. Then he pushed his chair back, stood, and turned to look out the window, his hands crossed behind his back. When he spoke, his voice was contrite.

"To begin, I'd like to apologize for what happened in there. It should never have happened, but it did, and for that I'm deeply sorry."

"We lived, so it's all good," Gabriel replied, trying to sound unconcerned, for all that found himself suddenly angry. He fully expected Jack to say something, but she seemed content to stay quiet and let him speak. "So what _did_ happen?"

"Best Javos can tell is that there was some added code, maybe even a hostile VI, in the sim protocols. Good as he is, he's still trying to figure everything out. Won't be easy. There's little trace of it left in the systems." Ahern turned around and sat heavily in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him on the desk.

"Just before we cut power to the sim room, the logs recorded a tightbeam burst transmission from the station. But by the time we got system patrol to check along the burst's vector, there was nothing there."

"Do you know what was in it?" Gabriel asked.

"Not as such, no. We can guess though, from what's missing. Which is every scrap of combat data Pinnacle's ever recorded. It's not really a loss in the absolute sense – we had just backed up everything to offsite locations, apart from your most recent session – but it certainly compromises a lot of critical information, a good chunk of it classified to varying degrees."

"Damned if we know exactly who did it." Ahern leaned back, his face looking older than Gabriel had ever seen. "Can rule out some candidates, but that's the easy part. Alliance already has full access, which means Cerberus probably does too. It's part of our training agreement with our allies to share all data, so every friendly species can request copies. Hell, Spectres train here, so the Council's included in that list. Which leaves what? Geth? Batarians? Aria? Shadow Broker? Too many goddamn possibilities."

"Not to sound paranoid, but were we being targeted?" As he asked the question, Gabriel felt Jack tense beside him, heard the arms of her chair creak as she gripped them – hard. He laid a hand on top of hers and kept it there until she, very fractionally, relaxed.

"You have more than enough people gunning for you, sure enough. But it didn't look like it was trying to kill you, not through the main part of the scenario anyway, just at the end. But that might have been just you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe that was part of the plan – make you think everything was copacetic then drop the hammer on you. Can frame it either way, really."

"Any problems before today?"

"A few. Apart from keeping the systems state-of-the-art, it was part of the reason for the refit. But since the safeties were always on, it was never as bad as what happened with you. Besides, it usually worked to the benefit of the trainees. Took them out of their comfort zone, made them raise their game."

"So we weren't really worried even when the waves started early. Especially not after you took 'em down and made it look easy in the bargain. Besides, I'd told you I wasn't going to insult either of you by making things a cakewalk, so even though I had my hand on the panic button the whole time, I didn't pull the plug. Not until things really went to pot." At this Ahern lapsed into silence. Gabriel just nodded, waiting for the admiral to speak.

"Well we _tried_ to pull the plug, anyway. Long story short, we couldn't. Eventually had to cut mains power to the room itself. That took longer than I'd have liked. Power grid's not designed with a simple on-off switch – don't want it to be either. After that, well, told you that part of the story when you woke up," he said, sparing a quick glance at Jack.

"The bottom line is that we just don't know a whole lot, Shepard," the admiral went on, rubbing at his eyes. "Not without examining that outside program. Best I can offer is a lot of educated guessing. That and another apology. Small consolation I know, but there it is."

"Thanks for telling us." Gabriel was still angry, but Ahern wasn't the enemy. Even so, it was infuriating to not know who _was_ the enemy. _Suppose it comes with the territory_, he finally told himself.

"Least I can do. I'd replace your armor, but it's not even supposed to exist yet. I'll definitely keep you posted once we know more – if we ever know more. Dahga tells me that you already know everything we currently have on last night's incident, so I've got nothing more to say about that. I wish yesterday and today could have gone a lot better for the two of you, but you know what they say about wishes and horses."

"Comes with the territory," Gabriel replied, echoing his earlier thought. "If there's nothing else, I think we'd better be getting home."

"Of course. I'll have someone fly you down to Intai'sei right away. Guess this is good-bye, Shepard, Jack." Ahern stood and extended his hand.

"Just call it a 'see-you-later,' Admiral." Gabriel shook the proffered hand. Ahern withdrew his hand as soon as the handshake was over; apparently the admiral understood Jack well enough to know that she tended not to shake hands under any circumstances.

"Dammit, Shepard. Told you to call me Ahern," he chided, smiling for the first time in the entire conversation.

"Old habits, Ahern."

"I hear you. Good luck out there. Wherever you finally land."

* * *

Fortunately, the shuttle ride back to Intai'sei was uneventful compared to their trip to Pinnacle earlier that day. That changed not long after they ran security checks, entered the door to the apartment, and sealed it behind them.

Without a word, Jack stripped off her kit and headed for the shower, leaving Gabriel to put away what was left of his own gear. The Claymore had survived – it had been built to be used and abused by krogan, after all – as had the Carnifex, although the latter's scope had been torn off and rendered unusable. The Tempest was a total loss, as was the bulk of his armor; the pieces that had remained viable were in a crate they had left by the door. As he took off the borrowed Alliance uniform, Gabriel sighed, partly in relief, partly in resignation. Relief at having finally come to the end of the day with only minor injuries, resignation at being reminded at how he must look due to those injuries.

_Crew's going to have a field day with this, especially Joker and Mordin_, he thought to himself, sighing again. He had just pulled clean underclothes and a towel from the closet when he heard the bathroom door open.

Gabriel turned, prepared to go take a hot shower, grab a quiet dinner with Jack, then settle down to stargaze or somesuch before sleep. Mundane things, but-not-boring-because-it-was-with-Jack things. So he wasn't at all prepared for what happened next.

Jack tackled him with enough force to throw them both onto the bed, using her biotics to soften the impact enough so they settled onto the mattress with a soft thump, drawing only mild protest from his battered body. Her lips were all over his face and neck, hands running gently but confidently over his form, her own body pressed into his, the heat evoking an answering warmth. For his part, Gabriel found himself mimicking her movements, caressing the expanse of her back, traveling along her hips and thighs, coming up to cup her bottom, pull her even more firmly against him.

He licked her neck, sucking softly, tasting soap, his lips unintentionally running along one of the matching scars that adorned either side. Jack shuddered, in ecstasy or from unpleasant memory, Gabriel didn't know, couldn't tell, not now, not like this. But he retained enough presence of mind to notice that she shied, balked, pulled away when he tried to kiss her on the mouth. Gabriel opened his eyes, saw that hers were closed, just before the lights went out.

She had used her interface to close the shutters and lightpipes in addition to turning off the internal lighting, plunging the apartment into a near-total darkness broken only by the telltales on kitchen appliances, equipment benches and lockers, and those on Jack's interface itself. But all of them were either too small, too distant, or too weak to illuminate the gloom.

"Jack-" he began, "What-" She tried to silence him with a finger on his lips; he felt, rather than saw, the scars. Even as he struggled with his physical responses, Gabriel refused the tacit request, anxiety crawling in, scratching at, his gut.

"Jack-" he repeated. She cut him off again, this time with words. Soft, almost pleading, a tone he had never, ever, heard her use.

"Don't- don't say anything. Let's just do this, 'kay?" she whispered. Then she said it, the one word he had never heard leave her mouth. Ever. "Please."

That clinched it, gave Gabriel the last ounce of strength he needed to rein in his lust. Reluctantly, he took his hands from her body and found her wrists, enclosing them in a gentle, yet firm grip and lifting them from his skin. Then he lightly placed his hands on her shoulders, gently urging their bodies apart. It was one of the most difficult things he had ever done; his flesh still burned from where it had touched hers, and he was so hard it was painful. But it was something he felt – he knew – he had to do.

"No," he disagreed, voice throaty with arousal. "No we're not." He sent a signal to his implants and turned on the lights – low, easy on the eyes, but more than enough to see Jack clearly.

Her expression was at once confused, frightened, frustrated, angry- and sad. When she spoke, the emotions echoed in her tone.

"What? I want this. Know you want it too. This don't lie," she said, brushing a palm across his loins, making him shudder at the contact. But he somehow managed to keep himself under control.

"I do want it." Voice holding steady, iron discipline from nearly two decades of soldiering proving its worth. "But I told you already. Not until it's the right time. For both of us."

"Said it yourself," she retorted, "Don't know when the right time will come. If it'll come. Got to take what we can get, when we can get it."

"Said you'd be ready when I was ready," she went on. "I'm ready. That kiss earlier, when we thought we'd won? That a lie?" The pain in her eyes, in her voice, hurt him, more than the shot from the turret, more than the re-entry over Alchera, ever had.

"No," he answered, his own pain leaching into his tone, no matter how hard he tried to keep it out. "Not then, not now, not ever. But Jack-" He took a deep breath, feeling his bruised chest protest with a stab of pain that had little to do with the physical.

"Why didn't you want to kiss me just now?" Not giving her time to answer, he plowed on. "Why don't you want me to talk? Why do it in the dark where we can't see each other?" And then he said it, voicing the doubt, the fear, that had nagged at him even in the throes of passion:

"Why does this feel like goodbye?"

Jack spoke no answer at first, but her body language gave all the answer Gabriel didn't need. He saw her eyes narrow, her face close down, felt the warmth flee from her every line, even as he sensed her anger building, rising, winning out, overshadowing everything else. When she finally said something, the frozen tone of her voice was completely at odds with the fire in her eyes.

"Fuck you. What the hell do you know?"

She rose from the mattress, every movement stiff, almost forced. Tugging a sheet from the bed, she wrapped it around herself, walked to the couch, and lay down, disappearing from Gabriel's view.

Numbly, he sat up and put on his clothes; pulling the remaining sheets up to his waist, he rested his back against the headboard. He sat like that for hours, hoping that she would say something, do something that would acknowledge his existence, for all that his heart knew it wouldn't happen. Not tonight. And perhaps not ever again. When exhaustion finally claimed him, he dreamt of dark tunnels and nuclear fire.

**~ End Day 6, Part 2 ~**

* * *

_Author's Notes: Going to try and keep this short and sweet (for me, anyway). First the practical stuff:  
_

_1) Day 7 is going to be tough to write. I know where I'm beginning and where I'm finishing it, but the middle is just a broad outline at this point. To establish a baseline of comparison, it took me several days to write the last section of this installment - given that a good chunk of Day 7 is similar emotion-content-wise, you should have an idea how long it might take. The only thing I can promise is what I've promised all along: that I will NOT drop TWK if it is at all in my power to keep it going. Beyond that I can only hope that it won't take me another year and a half to update. I do want to finish this arc and begin on the TWK one-shots.  
_

_2) In the couple of days since I posted my previous notes, I've reconsidered my decision to incorporate the one-shots under the same heading as the Intai'sei arc. Instead, they will be under the category of "TWK ~ Vignettes" (or something along those lines).  
_

_Now for the "talking-out-loud" stuff:  
_

_The reason this installment was finished so (relatively) quickly is that pretty much 80-90% of it was written and mostly finalized by the time I made the decision to release Part 1. The remainder (which part that is should be blindingly obvious if you've read this far) is what gave me trouble, so much so that I released Part 1 because I wasn't sure how long it would take before Part 2 was where I wanted it.  
_

_As for the closing scene, I want to say by way of an apologia (not an apology) that this is where I'd always intended our intrepid pair to end up at this particular point in TWK. They're ending up back together, of course - my bias toward this LI pairing and my own future plans make that clear - but the road there (as many others have said before me) will never be truly smooth, not for characters with the emotional baggage these two have, and certainly not this early in their relationship. It's simply not realistic, even in fiction (that wants to retain its self-respect anyway). I just hope that my efforts to portray that bumpy road don't come off as too forced, out of character, or out of the blue, especially in light of the inevitable explanations that will be presented on Day 7.  
_

_Just one more bit. The more I examine things, the more it looks to me like Bioware's decision to give Jack something other than Shepard to care about (i.e., her students at Grissom), is their way of hinting that Shepard might not make it through the events of ME3 (not that I agree with how the ending goes, mind - I still heartily despise that travesty of a conclusion). If not something to replace him, then perhaps something to fill the void that will exist once he's gone (especially if your Shep chose to romance her, but also even if all he did was help her begin to heal). Cold comfort, maybe, but better than nothing. Just my two cents - and a rambling two cents at that.  
_

___In closing, I would once more like to thank all of you who have visited, read, stayed, what-have-you. Time is at a premium these days, and for you to spend some of it here, with this story, is appreciated more than you can really know.  
_


End file.
